Department approval clears major hurdle for water upgrade – Naughten

In Mid-Roscommon by Denis Naughten

The final approval by the Department of the Environment to upgrade the Roscommon Central regional water supply means the council can now engage with contractors on the installation of a solution to the current cryptosporidium problem.

“I am glad that the Department of the Environment acceded to the request to turn around approval for the upgrade of the Roscommon Central regional water supply quickly, which is vital to addressing the current boil water notice,” stated Denis Naughten.

“The project will involve the installation of a filtration and ultraviolet light treatment system and, while it cannot be done overnight, it will effectively deal with the risk of cryptosporidium in the water supply.”

Denis Naughten added: “The current boil water notices in Roscommon Town, Castlerea and Boyle are not only causing huge concern among the public but are also damaging for the promotion of County Roscommon.

“Roscommon County Council identified the potential risk of local water supplies to cryptosporidium some years ago and presented detailed proposals to the Department of the Environment at the time to deal with this problem. However, disappointingly there have been on-going delays over the last 10 years in getting the required approvals from the Department which led to the current predicament where cryptosporidium made its way into the public water supply.

“Council staff are to be commended in their efforts to address this problem and I now hope that the Environment Minister will work closely to approve plans to also address the Castlerea and Boyle water problems without delay,” concluded Denis Naughten.

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