Quality of drinking water in private water supplies is putting health at risk, warns EPA

88 of the 1,418 small private water supplies monitored, failed to meet the standards relating to bacteria, which is the most important indicator of safe drinking water. This is according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who have released the ‘Drinking Water Quality in Private Supplies 2019’ report.

Similarly, twenty of the 417 private group schemes monitored during the year, serving approximately 3,000 people, failed to meet the standards. This failure, in more than 100 private water supplies, is of significant concern and puts the thousands of users of these supplies at risk. The EPA also found failures to meet the standards for other parameters (for example, nitrates and trihalomethanes) that need to be addressed.

One million people in Ireland get their drinking water from a private supply and many more drink water from small private supplies like hotels, pubs and restaurants, crèches, nursing homes and national schools in their daily lives.

Critically, the report notes that 19 per cent of registered small private supplies, serving food businesses, nursing homes, creches and B&Bs, were not monitored in 2019. If a supply has not been monitored, it makes it impossible to be confident that the water is safe to drink. Local authorities must ensure that monitoring is undertaken in line with regulations.

REMEDIAL ACTION LIST

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage developed a Remedial Action List for Group Water Schemes in 2016. This is a list of 106 group water schemes, mainly in rural areas, that require upgrades to improve drinking water quality.

The report shows that progress is being made and the Department has stated that it expects that all of these supplies will be addressed by the end of 2021.

Andy Fanning, Programme Manager of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said: “The Group Water Schemes identified on the list of 106 supplies need to make sure that their supplies of drinking water are safe now and for the long term to better protect public health. It is also essential that the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage puts in place improved governance and supports for the rural water sector so that appropriate actions can be taken to improve these supplies.

The report is available on the EPA website.