Hotelier and Supermac's founder Pat McDonagh has said that he is spending €600 a week on bottled water in his Loughrea Hotel due to an outbreak of Cryptosporidium in the area.
Residents of Loughrea have been put on boil-water notice to avoid the potentially deadly 'Crypto' disease, and McDonagh has criticised authorities for "passing the buck", the Irish Independent reports.
"We've got to buy in bottled water for all the bedrooms and for cooking in the restaurant and we have to buy ice," said McDonagh. "We have notices up in all the rooms so every guest is fully informed that they must use the bottled water for brushing their teeth."
"It was an inconvenience at first but now it's a big cost. We're paying €30,000 a year in water rates, that's on top of rates in excess of €100,000 and we're getting nothing back for it."
The boil-water notice, which has been in effect since November 2015, has no definite end in sight; Irish Water has said it will remain until at least late autumn.
McDonagh said the measures have noticed affected tourism to the area or bookings at the hotel, however he expressed frustration at Irish Water for "being hopped from Billy to Jack" and said estimates the hotel will have spent €20,000 on bottled water by the time the situation is sorted.
