An environmental watchdog only became aware through media reports that several people had become ill in Limerick from consuming contaminated drinking water, an audit has revealed.

There are now just 20 “pristine” river sites around the country, down from more than 500 in the late 1980s, according to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Cork county councillors are calling on Irish Water officials to attend some of its meetings to answer questions.

A boil water notice has been issued for 1,500 people in Co Westmeath.

A boil water notice has been re-issued for 500 people in Co Limerick.

The Water Forum has said there is an over reliance on the Liffey to supply Dublin with drinking water.

The Victorian-era water treatment plant which supplies water to 70% of Cork city’s population is to undergo a €40m upgrade.

600,000 people in Dublin and surrounding counties are being told to boil their drinking water.

Eight beaches in Dublin have been closed to swimmers following the heavy rainfall last night.

Latest: It has been confirmed that tomorrow's Liffey Swim will go ahead.

Not many metrics show our disregard for essential resources as graphically as ever-declining water quality does.

A bathing ban remains in place at Dollymount Beach.

Three public water schemes in Cork have been removed from a list of potentially dangerous supplies by the environment watchdog. This follows upgrade works by Irish Water.

Almost three-quarters of Irish bathing waters have been rated "excellent" by European standards, but the country is lagging significantly behind many of our European neighbours.

Water quality and public health will come under threat from the likely impacts of climate change in Ireland, a new report warns.

It’s been a lot of trial and error, countless kitchen table board meetings, but a Cork family firm has come up with what it is calling a revolutionary way to treat wastewater in a sustainable way.

World Water Day is held annually as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

It seems new action to tackle plastic pollution is announced every week, from the 5p plastic bag charge to governments debating a tax on plastic packaging, writes Elizabeth Kirk.

The Environmental Protection Agency reports on water quality are a regular litmus test on how we treat, or more accurately, mistreat water.

The Environmental Protection Agency has found Irish water quality has deteriorated in the last two years.

Crèches, nursing homes and hotels using their own wells for drinking water could pose a serious health risk.

A report from the Environmental Protection Agency says around half of the waste discharges entering our waters do not meet pollution and health standards.

Water tankers are being brought in for around 1,800 customers of a public water supply in Co Clare.

Limerick County Council has lifted precautionary Boil Water Notices affecting customers of a further 14 water supplies throughout Co Limerick.

Limerick County Council has today issued a boil-water notice to all customers in Co Limerick.

Full water services in Dublin are expected to be fully restored by midnight tonight, according to Dublin City Council.

Water restrictions remain in place in parts of Dublin's northside today.

Water warnings have been issued by Limerick County Council this evening.

Limerick County Council has today confirmed that drinking-water restrictions have been lifted in areas affected by an oil pollution incident in West Limerick.

Dublin's water supply is set to be restricted until at least Wednesday as local authorities try to conserve water.

Residents in parts of north inner city Dublin were today warned they face disruptions to their water supply.

New figures from the Environmental Protection Agency reveal that more than half of all waste water plants do not meet EU standards.

A boil notice which was put in place in on Achill's local water supply following an outbreak of gastroenteritis at a Co Mayo nursing home has been lifted.

Elevated levels of lead were found in the tapwater of four areas of Co Clare after the local Council increased monitoring in recent weeks.

More drinking water problems have emerged in Galway, with residents in some parts of the city warned about high levels of lead in their supply.

Northern Ireland Water failed to meet its targets on drinking water quality and the number of pollution incidents last year, its first annual report revealed today.

Up to 25,000 people in North Kerry are without water after a landslide polluted the River Feale.

A boil notice has been put in place in a large area of south Galway as a result of contamination in the local water supply.

A ban on drinking water issued in Co Limerick has been lifted.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is warning that Ireland could fail to achieve EU water quality standards unless improvements are made quickly.

Minister for the Environment John Gormley has said that farmers have nothing to fear following an increase in the penalties for nitrates offences.

Nearly one-third of Ireland's rivers and groundwater sources are still polluted with human, animal, farming and industrial waste, according to the latest assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency.

More than one third of county and city councils have not tested public water supplies for a potentially fatal disease, it emerged today.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is calling for more testing of drinking water following an increase in outbreaks of cryptosporidium.