Galway Corporation has said that its staff will be working throughout the weekend to solve the city's drinking water problem. A spokesman told RTÉ News that they are confident that they will have eliminated all contamination from the system by Monday. He said that the city's water mains will continue to be flushed out and additional chlorine will be added to the water.
Tom Kilgarriff, Galway City Engineer, said that it was unfortunate but every precaution was being taken to ensure that there was a minimal risk to public health. He said that the problem probably arose from the replacement of sections of the city's 100-year old water mains. Tourist bosses have said that the crisis could not have come at a worse time, as more than 100,000 holidaymakers have come to the city ahead of Sunday's International Air Show at Salthill.
All households in the city have been advised to use either boiled or bottled water until further notice. The corporation says that it believes the contamination is "slight" and it does not believe that it presents any danger to public health. The contamination was first detected in the High Street/Quay Street area of the city and Ballybane/Doughiska on Wednesday.
