On the Waters of Galway

So most of the time when you think of a place having recurring water contamination problem, you think 'oh, third world' right? Apparently not. Galway has had boil water notices on and off for over a year now. There was the cryptosporidium which lasted forever and was on and off with people getting sick all over - and which was finally resolved last August just as I got here, and then there was the E. coli problem, and now apparently there's a third "water crisis" with abnormally high levels of clostridium perfringens. Especially fun is the fact that C. perfringens causes gastrointestinal illness and is an indicator of cryptosporidium! Also, on a different but related (in that it's in regards to water) note, sewage and water treatment plants are kind of a new thing here. The water treatment plant was built in 1981, and the new up-to-date sewage treatment plant that actually ensures beaches are swimable was just built in 2004.