Irish Water and Mayo County Council have issued a Boil Water Notice on the Lough Mask Regional Water Supply Scheme to protect consumers following advice from the Health Service Executive.

A routine water sample has detected cryptosporidium in the treated water coming from the Lough Mask Water Treatment Plant and as a result the boil water notice has been put in place to protect the 46,500 people who are supplied from this plant.

Commenting Sean Corrigan, Regional Information Specialist from Irish Water said:

“Public health is our number one priority and while we investigate the source of this contamination it is imperative that people adhere to the boil water notice. We will be contacting priority customers supplied by this scheme who have self-declared to Irish Water directly by telephone. Irish Water is working closely with Mayo County Council to investigate all aspects of the scheme. A continuous sampling and testing programme has been put in place.”

Irish Water is currently liaising with the HSE and the Environment Protection Agency and has set up an incident management team to deal with the incident.

Under the notice, water must be boiled for a wide range of household uses, including drinking, drinks made with water, preparation of salads and similar foods, which are not cooked prior to eating and brushing teeth.

The notice applies to consumers on the Lough Mask Regional Water Supply Scheme and areas of Westport who are also served by the Scheme.

Irish Water and Mayo County Council have apologised for the  inconvenience caused by the announcement.