Wet around the ears about our water

OUR unenviable reputation for being a rain-sodden country doesn’t take in the slightest from the challenge of ensuring the supply and quality of water here are up to standard in the future.

In recent years, we’ve had outbreaks of cryptosporidium and widespread reports of contaminated drinking water, often caused by farm effluent and seepage from domestic tanks. All of which means we shouldn’t be complacent.

Last year, the European Court of Justice reprimanded Ireland for not properly implementing EU rules on waste water in rural areas, pointing to the way dysfunctional sewage systems were working.