North Sligo’s water ‘worse than in Africa’

THE public water supply in the north Sligo area is now worse than it is in parts of Africa for where appeals for funds to provide clean water are now being run, it has been claimed.
An illustration of the poor quality of water in the area is that a machine in Grange supplying a filtered supply can no longer handle it.
The machine at the local Londis supermarket and filling station gave people a cheaper alternative to bottled water, which many people are now using regularly for drinking instead of the public supply.
The machine filters the public water supply and you can buy five litres of filtered water for €1.20. On the first occasion you used you get a free container which you then reuse.
However, having had to turn it off on several occasions because of problems caused by the poor quality of the public water supply, owner Kevin Lowe is now installing a second filter, which will filter the water before it goes into the filter machine.
He said he was talking to the sup-pliers of the machine Crystal Clear to install the new filter at a cost of •1,000. He is also looking at installing a special filter for all the water coming into his premises at a cost of •1,200.
One north Sligo resident who has been a regular user of the machine is David Large from Maugherow. He worked in Africa for a number of years and said that the water supply was not as bad there as it is here now.
“I see Trocaire running appeals for funds to provide clean water for children in Africa but the time is coming when we will be running appeals to provide clean water for children here.
“When I was in Africa the water was never as bad as it is here. There are very high levels of iron in the water and too much iron is bad for you.”
He said he felt particularly sorry for older people who don’t have transport and can’t go and buy bottled water as easily.

© Sligo Weekender