EPA water quality report shows little change in levels of pollution

YESTERDAY’S Water Quality in Ireland 2006 report from the EPA shows little change from its predecessor, with some types of pollution on the increase along with slight improvements in other areas.

Of concern to the EPA is that a quarter of groundwater supplies have nitrate levels higher than the national guideline levels, with 57% showing the presence of faecal coliforms.

Of 32,000km of rivers and streams surveyed, 10% were moderately polluted, 18.1% slightly polluted and 0.6% seriously polluted.