Private wells warning, as E.coli threat highlighted

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has expressed concern about the quality of water supplies at private wells, following the doubling in detection rates of a particularly dangerous form of E.coli.

The director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement, Gerard O’Leary, has urged the owners of private water supplies to check their water sources to ensure they are adequately protected and the water is disinfected. He said drinking water from private supplies is inferior to that of public supplies.

There are currently 30 supplies on boil-water notices countrywide, with 15,443 people in Roscommon affected, a figure described by EPA as “unacceptable”. There are 140 water supplies on an EPA action list requiring upgrading of their water quality to ensure better compliance with EU water standards. E.coli is an indicator of faecal matter in the water supply and disinfection kills all E.coli, including the more dangerous strain, VTEC.