This article is from page 26 of the 2008-06-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 26 JPG
THE water supply in west Clare is clear of any traces of cryptosporid- Leteee
That is according to Derek Troy, executive engineer with the local au- thority, who confirmed that reported cases of cryptosporidiosis in the west Clare area was in no way linked to the west Clare public drinking water supply.
“On receipt of reports from the HSE that a number of cases had been
reported, Clare County Council Wa- ter Services section immediately put in place testing equipment on both Old and New Doolough water treat- ment plants on April 30,” revealed Mr Troy.
“Both tests revealed no traces of cryptosporidium. On May 20 the testing equipment was put in place again. And again both tests revealed no traces of cryptosporidium.
“Finally, the testing equipment was placed on the Drumellihy Reser- voir, which is the closest reservoir to
the locations on the reported cases. Results revealed no traces of crypt- osporidium,’ he told Kilrush Town councillors.
“Doolough Lake, which is the main source of water for the west Clare area, 18 regularly assessed and is considered low risk by the EPA water supply risk classification for crypt- osporidium,’ he added.
The engineer was responding to questions from Kilrush Town coun- cillor Marian McMahon Jones (FG), who asked for a full report following
10 reported cases of the illness in the last two years.
“I can guarentee those cases are not as aresult of the water,’ said Mr ‘Troy.
Cllr McMahon Jones said she was happy with the response, as the HSE also confirmed that the water was clear.
Cllr Tom Prendeville (FF) de- scribed Cllr McMahon’s motion as “reckless” and accused the Fine Gael councillor of scare mongering and causing undue panic.