Over 480,000 people relying on 'at risk' public water supplies

So far this year, 51,579 people have been affected by boil water notices.

The number of people in the country relying on “at-risk” public water drinking supplies has jumped to nearly half a million.

The latest report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also raised red flags over the effects of lead in our water and how insufficient progress was made last year to improve the situation.

The newly published 56-page report also shows:

• The quality of drinking water from public supplies remains very high with nearly 100% of samples compliant with bacterial and chemical limits;
• Some 481,000 people are currently served by “at-risk” supplies on the EPA’s remedial action list — that is up from 374,000 people in 2021;
• Persistent bacteria and trihalomethane (THM) failures were detected in supplies serving 235,000 people.

The cumulative risk from lead in our drinking water continues, with insufficient progress reported for 2022.

Cork City plant

Meanwhile, a major new treatment plant for Cork City which will serve 97,000 people has been welcomed by the EPA.

“Our public water quality remains very high, which means that the public can be confident that the drinking water supplied to their homes is safe to drink," said EPA director Tom Ryan.

“Uisce Éireann has made good progress in delivering necessary new drinking water infrastructure such as the new plant at Lee Rd in Cork which now supplies high-quality drinking water to 97,000 people.

“However, the EPA, through our inspection and monitoring programme, continues to identify drinking water plants that are at risk and require improvements and upgrades.”

The findings also show 45 public supplies failed to meet the standard for THM at least once last year, which is a decrease from 58 the year before.

When there are numerous breaches for THM the supply is placed on the remedial action list.

THMs are chemicals which may be found in water treated with chlorine. Some water supplies have reported levels of THMs which are higher than the recommended levels.

Uisce Éireann is developing a national THM plan to deal with this issue.

Remedial action list

The environment watchdog also found that, in 2022, the number of supplies on the remedial action list increased to 23, impacting 235,000 people, in comparison to 19 supplies, impacting 110,000 people, in 2021.

Last year, Limerick City, which supplies 115,000 people, was added to the remedial action list.

The EPA can issue legally binding directions to Uisce Éireann under the drinking water regulations.

Ten directions were opened by the EPA over THM and last year it issued legal proceedings for failure to control bacteria in the West Clare supply, securing a conviction this year.

Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Clare, Waterford, and Tipperary were all on the remedial action list last year.

So far this year, 51,579 people have been affected by boil water notices in several counties, including Tipperary, Waterford, Limerick, Cork, and Kerry.

Last year, 79 boil water notices were in place at 67 supplies, affecting more than 182,000 consumers, up from 70 in 2021 and 43 in 2020.

The figures show 25 of the notices were in place for 30 days, with 11 in place for over a year.