Deadly E-coli bug found in 33% of Cork’s private water schemes

THE deadly bug E-coli was found in a third of Cork’s private water schemes.

But the quality of water supplied through the public water system is above the national average, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Its national report on water quality showed that, as across the country, the compliance of private group water supply schemes in Cork still needs to be addressed.

Of the 36 private group water supply schemes in the county, which deliver water to 3,317 people, 10 had incidents of E-coli contamination.

Despite this warning, the report also showed an overall rate of 97.4% compliance with drinking water standards serving 267,602 people across the county. Cork County Council welcomed the fact the compliance rate is above the national average and is an improvement on the 2005 compliance rate of 97.1%.

The council also noted that:

* Since 2005, its E-coli incidents have almost halved.

* It has complied with a binding direction from the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure compliance with E-coli standards on two of its 210 supplies.

* In the first six months of the new regulations, two boil water notices issued by the council affected just 250 people out of a population of 264,285.

A council spokesman said there is a need for a clear funding mechanisms to help the local authority meet the growing costs of supplying water to the domestic sector. He also said the report shows a significant level of investment is required in both infrastructure and systems to enable continued high quality water supply.

It is planning to spend €485 million over the next two years improving and extending 98 of its key water services schemes. But the County and City Managers Association said it can take up to 10 years to deliver on a scheme.

Clean drinking water is expensive to produce and procedures to fast-track such schemes must be developed, it said.

Association chairman, Cork’s city manager Joe Gavin, said the Environmental Protection Agency’s report highlights this and other pressures on the system. “Higher EU standards and threats to the water supply such as cryptosporidium and E-coli mean that the thinking and systems of the past are no longer adequate,” he said.

“The provision of safe and secure water has to take top priority and will require significant financial resources.

“It is most important that we move forward now as rapidly as possible to implement a framework that would deliver and support the provision of high quality water to all customers.

“We have proposals to deal with this aspect of the problem,” said Mr Gavin.