Water for 1.25m people is unsafe

DRINKING water supplies for 1.25 million people have failed to meet safety standards — prompting calls for greater accountability of local authorities.

Labour Party deputy for Dublin Mid-West Joanna Tuffy said yesterday the “shocking” state of water schemes had been allowed to get worse over time and city and county councils had to be answerable.

“The legislation may well be in place but clearly the enforcement of the legislation is just not strong enough. The time for treating local authorities with kid gloves in this regard is long past,” she said.

Ms Tuffy was reacting to revelations that 339 schemes across the country had failed to meet water standards. These were highlighted in the Provision and Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It found 60 schemes serving 316,000 people may not meet European standards which will come into effect in December. These will regulate the levels of two cancer-causing disinfectants, bromide and trihalmethanes. The report found a further 34 schemes had excess levels of aluminium and supplies to 160,000 people had inadequate controls against cryptosporidium. It showed deficits in the delivery of supplies to cities including Cork, Limerick, Waterford, and certain areas in Dublin.

At the Irish Planning Institute’s annual conference in Westport, president Andrew Hind said decision-makers had pandered to developers who wanted to build properties despite an inability of water schemes to cope.

“All around the country our failure to deliver properly designed water and waste water infrastructure has left not just individual houses, but significant residential areas with sub-standard water supplies and waste water treatment infrastructure,” he said.

Publication of the EPA’s list came just nine weeks after the County and City Managers’ Association called for the Government to begin a programme of investment into drinking water infrastructure.

Yesterday, the chair of its water services’ committee Alec Fleming said progress was being made with a concerted effort to ensure all schemes are compliant.

“You can see from the list many of the problems are small in nature. There are others that are more difficult and the focus is trying to address these. “While further funding is needed in terms of capacity, we do welcome the EPA’s commitment to sorting out any scheme with compliancy issues,” he said.

Environment Minister John Gormley’s department said while there had been investment in some areas progress had been slow.

The department’s water inspectors are liaising with the EPA and all relevant local authorities to develop action plans for the deficient schemes.

Mr Gormley said there was a contingency fund available for emergency work and these projects will be prioritised under a €470 million programme.

Limerick County Council, where 12 schemes were highlighted on the black-list, said the support from the department was beginning to make an impact.

A statement from the council said it had already begun remedial work in a large number of cases.