Galway Bay fm newsroom - It's been confirmed that a desalination machine has been earmarked for Connemara for the purpose of providing fresh water for the salmon farming industry.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara says the machine will be sited at Killary fjord on the borderline between Connemara and west Mayo.
The machine was brought into Dublin Port in recent days and will be relocated to Killary in the coming weeks.
Desalination involves extracting the salt from seawater. This process is used in parts of the world where fresh water is scarce.
A smaller desalination plant has now been hired in by Bord Iascaigh Mhara from a company in Norway to provide fresh water for the salmon farming industry.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara is the State support organisation for fishing and marine industries.
Bathing salmon with fresh water in sea based cages is seen as the best means of preventing certain diseases and sea lice infestation.
The desalination plant has arrived in Dublin and will be located on private property alongside Killary fjord at the northern edge of Connemara.
Bord Iascaigh Mhara says it will be there for three months and it has the capacity to pump through thousands of litres of fresh water per day.
The desalinated water will then be available for salmon farming concerns and will be removed to the cages by what are known as well boats.
Máirtín Ó Catháin for Galway Bay FM in Connemara.
