A two-year boil water notice for residents in a Co Galway village has been described as unacceptable.
Irish Water has said improvement works on the supply for Williamstown will not be completed until December 2016.
Locals have been boiling their drinking water for more than two months.
Irish Water said the landscape leaves the local source open to future contamination and it is planning to extend a pipeline from Lough Mask in Co Mayo to provide safe water.
Supply from there is already brought as far as Ballyhaunis, around 20km away.
The utility company said it is putting an extension of that pipeline to tender shortly and is confident the work can be completed by the end of 2016.
It said that carrying out work at the local Williamstown treatment plant would not satisfactorily guarantee the quality of supply for the coming years.
But work on the improvement project from Lough Mask has not started yet and it will take two years to complete.
Independent TD Michael Fitzmaurice said remedial works must be carried out to ensure the boil water notice is not in place for that length of time.
He said such a timeframe is not acceptable and can be avoided.
Locals said they have found it difficult to get clarity on the exact plans and that there has been an information vacuum since responsibility for the supply switched from Galway County Council to Irish Water.
The company said it intends to meet residents and business owners in the coming days to provide clarity on the proposals.
Irish Water said it is examining whether a portable, temporary treatment solution can be provided for Williamstown in the short term.
The company is working on such a measure for Newtowncashel in Co Longford where similar infrastructural enhancements are planned.
However, it is understood if the temporary treatment facility was provided, it would not be in place until late 2015.
