HOUSEHOLDERS ON Inis Oírr in the Aran Islands have learned that their public water supply is so contaminated that it is not even safe to boil before drinking.
However, the island co-op says it received no direct alert from Galway County Council, which issued the information on its website on Friday evening.
A small delivery of bottled water to the island at the weekend was running out yesterday, and the mains supply for other uses continues to be rationed.
The most southerly of the three Aran Islands faces regular summer droughts due to the difficulty of drilling wells that are not contaminated by sea water.
Conservation measures were brought in over this summer due to an exceptionally dry period, but the situation took a turn on Friday evening when residents learned on Raidío na Gaeltachta that the supply was not fit to be boiled due to “chloride contamination”.
"We have about 500 people on the island as there is a big wedding, and we are sitting out here in the Atlantic surrounded by water – yet with little to drink," island co-op manager Paddy Crowe told The Irish Times.
Mr Crowe delivered a consignment of four pallets of bottled water sent by ferry from Galway on Saturday, but said residents and businesses were seriously concerned.
“It seems that even the public health nurse wasn’t told directly by the county council,” he said, criticising the lack of information.
Water is now rationed from 11am to 6pm, and the co-op has organised a rainwater harvesting course as a long-term option.
Inis Oírr has a population of just under 300, but this increases to about 1,000 during the summer with college students and visitors. Last year water was restricted to 12 hours a day.
Galway County Council was unavailable for comment yesterday.
