RESIDENTS ON THE outskirts of Castlerea town in Roscommon have been drinking boiled or bottled water for the last four years.
Two weeks ago, workers for Irish Water began installing meters in around the town and local councillor Paschal Fitzmaurice has described it as “unacceptable” that the problems with the supply were not fixed before this work started.
“If Irish Water were really serious about this problem they could, with the stroke of a pen, put in a temporary barrier and UV treatments which would work for the moment,” he told TheJournal.ie
Residents in the Boyle area of Roscommon, where the water is also contaminated, were told that this would not be resolved until next year. In October last year, an Irish Water spokesperson said that the company will “deal with instances in which water services provided to customers fall short of acceptable standards on a case by case basis”. However they said this would be done after the introduction of water charges.
“The thing people are annoyed at is that Irish Water don’t seem to be bothered,” Fitzmaurice said. “If they’re going to wait nine months to do it, that’s unacceptable. They don’t see how people are surviving, paying for bottled water – they don’t seem to have concern for people.”
A spokesperson for Irish Water had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
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