Nearly 5,700 households and businesses in South Conamara are still relying on tanker water supplies following a ‘do not consume’ notice issued on Friday last.

According to Irish Water, the warning notice has been issued because of high levels of manganese in the public water supply which is sourced in Spiddal.

Local public representatives have criticised Irish Water for what they described as ‘an information deficit’ in letting people know about the extent of the water pollution problem.

“It’s very hard to get any information from Irish Water as to the cause of the problem and for how long this has been an issue.

“Last weekend all the shops in the local villages were sold out of water, and even now with tankers provided, this water still has to be boiled,” said local councillor Pádraig Mac an Iomaire.

He said that Irish Water needed to have a better system in place to notify people of problems, adding that if this issue had arisen a few weeks back, it would have been ‘a complete disaster’ for the Mná Tí and their Irish language students.

“We need to know how long this has been a problem for; what the cause of it is; and what steps are being taken to ensure that this doesn’t happen again,” said Cllr Mac an Iomaire.

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