Updates issued over Galway beach's 'no swimming' warning
A notice alert had been put in place from mid July
Galway County Council has issued an update after a Connemara beach was given a ‘do not swim’ notice alert during the heatwave.
The warning had been applied to Whitestrand beach in Renvyle last Wednesday after testing had found elevated levels of bacteria in the waters.
After almost a week, the notice has been lifted by GCC with the public given the all clear to dip the toes and swim once again.
The Council said: “The ‘Do Not Swim’ prohibition in place for Whitestrand beach in Renvyle has been removed.
“A re-sample was taken on Thursday and the results indicate that the levels of bacteria are now well within safety standards.”
Uisce Eireann has issued a six week hosepipe ban for six counties as well as night time restrictions for 39 water supplies including parts of Galway.
Extended weather warnings for high temperatures by Met Eireann has led to the Irish Water group issuing the hosepipe order which will affect Dublin, south Tipperary, Meath, Wexford, Wicklow and parts of Kildare.
As well as Galway, night time restrictions are also in place for parts of Donegal, Kerry, Cork, Waterford, Kilkenny, Waterford, Cavan, Longford, Meath, Laois, Tipperary, Limerick and Wexford.
While not as strict as the hosepipe ban, which includes banning activities like washing your car, filling paddling pools and watering gardens, it will see slight distribution to water supplies around the country.
Uisce Eireann has also set up a ‘Make A Complaint’ page on their website to report homeowners who are breaking the hosepipe ban which is in place until August 26 but could be extended or cut short depending on conditions.
Homeowners can submit an incident on Uisce Éireann’s Make a Complaint Page or by calling the customer service line at 1800 278 278.
In relation to this, four Galway areas have been given a ‘do not use’ water warning.
Glendollagh Lake, Derryclare Lough, Ballynahinch Lake and Owenmore River have all become chemically contaminated with people in the surrounding areas alerted by Galway County Council.
It is feared that contamination may impact local "water courses and drinking water extraction points".