Heads up on drinking water for anyone considering travel to Galway
 

I skimmed through the Ireland topics and didn't see any mention of this. Forgive me if I'm repeating something that's already been discussed. But, having just returned from visiting my daughter in Galway, I thought this should be mentioned.

A couple of weeks ago Galway was put on a boil order because of cryptosporidium in the water supply. As of Monday, the best case scenario was that it would take six months to fix the problem!

I had a wonderful time in Galway despite the hassle of having to brush my teeth with bottled water! But I think anyone who is considering travel there in the next few months should be aware that the problem exists.

Yes, I had heard about this from the TripAdvisor forum. We will be staying in Headford, just north of Galway, in late May. Does the boil alert apply there also?

Sorry, mom83, I don't know. It's the Galway City water system. But you might want to check before you go. If you're staying in a hotel or B&B, you could probably e-mail them and ask.

Yes, Headfort is affected.

CAPH52,

Welcome back. Looking forward to reading about your trip. Hope everything was perfect, excluding the water. When I lived on Mykonos we always used bottled water, even for brushing our teeth.

Kind Regards, Joan

Thank you, Joan. It was a wonderful trip! The weather in Ireland absolutely could not have been better the entire time I was there. I feel blessed! As soon as I've had time to rest and recuperate a bit, I'll start my trip report.

Apart from my native England, I always drink bottled water abroad, including where I now live in France.

kaneda: This sort of thing involves more than just drinking bottled water. Teeth brushing, ice in drinks, washing off fruit before eating it, even showering etc. - you need to be aware at all times

I went to Moscow/St Petersburg (actually still Leningrad at the time) once during a bad water scare. Everyone knew about not drinking the water. But lots of visitors still brushed their teeth w/ tap water and many got very ill. (me - I used vodka to brush my teeth :) and came home healthy as can be)

CAPH!!!!
Glad to hear you had a great time, wondered how you were doing and can't wait to hear all about it- esp. if you got to go to Clonmacnoise and how it went.

I am immediately emailing my B&B in Oughterard to see if all is well with the water- Thanks- I had not heard.

We leave in 5 days, 1 hour and 35 minutes (but who's counting!)- I hope you left some good weather behind for me!

:) :) :) Dawn

What about Doolin? Looks like we'll be brushing our teeth with Guiness!

bluesmusic,

My son asked the question about Guiness and Bud. so which will you be using to brush your teeth in Doolin. On a serious note, I remember a couple of years ago Ennis was having a water problem. Joan

Dawn, FWIW, when we were in the taxi on our way to the bus station Monday morning, the cabbie had the radio on and they said that it looked like Galway might have good weather at least until Easter Monday. I hope that you get the same kind of weather I did. It was just glorious!

Unfortunately, I didn't get to Clonmacnoise. But, thanks to the bus ride to/from Dublin, I know that if I'm ever lucky enough to get back (with a car), I'd like to stay in Ballinaslo (sorry if I butchered that, travel weariness is catching up with me and I'm frankly just too tired to look it up at the moment!). Of the three towns close to Clonmacnoise, it was the one that appealed to me the most. Although the others looked fine too.

And we did have a fantastic overnight stay on Inishmor. So I don't feel deprived! By the way, the water there was fine. While I don't know, I'm guessing that Oughterard and Doolin are okay too.

I'm wishing you a fantastic trip, Dawn. And am anxious to hear all about it! I'll try to at least get my report started before you leave.

I was in Galway 2 weeks ago with a group of friends and the hotels will leave you bottled water for brushing your teeth. This also means no Ice for drinks which is yuck for a G&T without ice. 2 Friends living there have been ill for a week at a time. It hits hatrder and longer. Its Galway city and surrounding areas. I am not sure they are able to clean it as in its an environmental impact from something else like slurrey.

Thanks for the heads up - we'll be staying in Galway for one night in just a few weeks.

Sorry to hear you didn't get to Clonmacnoise - we're going to try to go on the way to Dublin after leaving Galway.

Hoping for decent weather...

A G&T without ice? Barbaric. Don't these hotels know how to freeze bottled water?

There actually are a few places in Galway that are using ice brought in from elsewhere.

Here is a link with information & updates from the Galway City Council. There is a map at the bottom showing the affected areas as well as a link that tells what exactly cyptosporidiosis is.
http://www.galwaycity.ie/NewsFlash/WaterContamination/

and here is a news article of what is being done:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/0316/water.html

Thanks for posting that, Dawn! I tried to find some sort of link to post with my OP but my tired brain is still not functioning well! So glad you found this.

It's a much larger area than I'd realized!

I've checked online and the water contamination seems to still be an issue. I was wondering if anyone here has been in the Galway area in the last month and can share if it really was that much of a bother.
I'm planning 2 nights in Galway at the end of May and am reconsidering if I should find somewhere else just outside of the affected area. Any ideas?

Chloe, as I said in my original post, I just left Galway a week ago yesterday. And, yes, it is a bother. You do have to be careful. I still had a wonderful time in Galway. Whether you should choose another place really depends on how much you feel you'd be inconvenienced by not being able to drink the water, having to use bottled water to brush your teeth, etc. Seems to me the biggest inconvenience is for anyone in a postion to have to prepare meals.