So muddy is the water piped into the home of Aughnagar woman Marion Rafferty that it forms an impenetrable cloud of black when used to fill a bath.
Mrs Rafferty has been forced to put her disabled daughter to bed unbathed rather than lower her into a brew the colour of bog-water.
She is concerned her family and neighbours may be vulnerable to gastrointestinal illnesses when the water is contaminated with mud or dirt.
"My son lives nearby and his entire family of six were left bed-ridden with vomiting and diarrhoea the last time there was a problem with the water.
"My husband and I had to fill seven gallon drums from a local spring just to flush out their toilets and wash their bed-linen.
"If this was happening in the third world it would be described as a health crisis."
She added that neighbours also suffered from recurring bouts of stomach illness.
"One elderly neighbour has been vomiting now for weeks", she said. Her water woes are shared by residents in a five mile radius of the Altmore reservoir at Cappagh.
Water contamination and shortages are now endemic in an area housing hundreds of families in Galbally, Cappagh and Killeeshil.
Several Killeeshil families also claim they suffer from 'a persistent' stomach bug every time the water is contaminated.
Residents say they now drink only bottled water after experiencing bouts of the illness, which is usually not severe enough to warrant medical attention.

Infected

"For weeks on end my family suffer from tummy bugs and abdominal pain and it always seem to happen when the water turns brown", said one mother.
"What kind of germs and toxins are also being sucked into the pipes along with all the dirt and mud?", asked Marion Rafferty, whose 27-year-old daughter has cerebral palsy.
"All of my daughter's food is made up with water and I fear that if she becomes ill it will have serious consequences for her health.
"There are a lot of families with young children and vulnerable elderly having to use this polluted water."
"Living in an area where water is a natural resource and in such abundance it beggars belief that we are in this situation."
The Aughnagar woman also criticised Northern Ireland Water and the Environmental Health services at Dungannon for 'ignoring the problem'.
"I rang environmental health asking them to test the water, but they advised me to contact the Water Board, and told me there was very little they could do.
"It is thanks only to Anthony McConnell, our local councillor, that anything is being done about this.
"He has become our lifeline."
The SDLP representative said it was a 'public scandal' how hundreds of families were being affected on 'a weekly basis'.
A spokeswoman from Northern Ireland Water said it was aware of interruptions to supply in the area over the past few weeks, with the problem at the weekend down to 'excessive demand' following the good weather.


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