EPA looks to address Ireland's drinking water supplies

Released on 14 December 2021, the EPA Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies Report 2020 has shown that the quality of drinking water found in public supplies remains high, seeing over 99.7% compliance with bacterial and chemical limits.

The continued high levels being achieved are good for the consumers, as it indicates the water is safe to drink, however, improvements are needed in the drinking water infrastructure in order to fully protect public health. Delays in the delivery of these improvements at Irish Water's water treatment plants means that the water supplies will remain vulnerable for longer, posing a risk to the health of a large portion of the population. 

The Remedial Action list (published by the EPA) identified 46 vulnerable supplies, collectively serving more than 1,000,000 consumers, with significant issues needing to be addressed by Irish Water at the end of 2020. Positively, this figure is down from 2017's 77 supplies. Through EPA targeted enforcement, Leixlip has been removed from the list, following works there that resulted in a more secure water supply for more than half a million people. Sadly, improvement works at almost half of these supplies will take longer to complete than expected at the end of 2019. 

The EPA Director, Dr Tom Ryan said: “It is good news that our water is safe to drink today, but we cannot say with confidence that it is resilient into the future. The EPA remains concerned about the vulnerability of many drinking water supplies nationally. Irish Water needs to fix the remaining supplies on the EPA’s Remedial Action List without further delay. Recent incidents at Gorey and Ballymore Eustace water treatment plants have highlighted the absolute necessity for Irish Water to ensure our public water supplies are properly and effectively operated, and managed, to protect public health.”

Deficiencies have also been found in the national disinfection programme, along with a continued lack of focus by both Irish Water and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage in their plans to remove lead from supply connections and assessments on the extent of lead pipework in public buildings.

The EPA Programme Manager, Noel Byrne, has stated, "15,500 consumers were on Boil water notices for over a month in 2020, and 145,000 households still have lead connections from water mains, which highlights the vulnerabilities that exist in drinking water supplies. Irish Water must expedite lead connection replacements and progress improvements to disinfection systems - including addressing the issues with the disinfection programme identified by the EPA - to ensure that the quality of drinking water is adequately safeguarded."

Both the EPA Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies 2020 Report and the complete list of public water supplies currently on the Remedial Action List (including details of the proposed remedial measures and associated timeframes) are available on the EPA website