This article is from page 16 of the 2008-03-11 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 16 JPG
TOWN Engineer Tom Tiernan has issued a firm endorsement of the En- nis water supply saying it is safe and compliant for the vast majority to ey stU bs alen
At the March meeting of Ennis Town Council, Town Engineer Tom Tiernan said that a reminder to boil water for the immuno-compromised people was not a message for people to not drink the water.
Asked to clarify the present situa-
tion with regard to the town’s drink- ing water supply, Mr Tiernan told the meeting that boil notices were issued as a precautionary measure only.
He said, ““When these boil notices do appear, it is important that people read all of them. It does state that it only affects a minority of the popu- lous. Ennis water is perfectly safe and perfectly compliant for the vast majority of consumers to consume. The temporary treatment plant has definitely improved the water and re- duced the risk, but the Ennis supply
is that little bit more vulnerable than other supplies.
“It (the boil notice) is definitely not a message not to drink the water. The water is not contaminated, there is nothing wrong with it.”
He also revealed that the council is sending out a letter to all homes in Ennis to clarify the exact situation with the Ennis water supply.
“We are going to put together a let- ter to clarify for all customers what the situation is. Sometimes we are criticised for not letting everyone
know or not getting the message out to everybody as soon as possible. Sometimes, logistically, it is impos- sible to get a letter out to everyone. So we will be talking to the post of- fice about getting a letter out.”
Ennis Town Council, Clare County Council and the HSE last week is- sued a reminder to water consumers in the Ennis area to continue to ob- serve the partial boil notice.
It followed confirmation that three young children in the area had been diagnosed with cryptosporidiosis.
Mr Tiernan repeated that there was no evidence to suggest that the ill- ness had been caused by the Ennis water supply.
“On Friday, when the three cases were confirmed in the Ennis area, we set up a conference call with the HSE. There was no evidence to sug- gest that these cases were as a result of the Ennis water supply. The ap- propriate thing to do was to issue a reminder to all those who are immu- no-compromised, just in case they weren’t fully aware.”