Irish Examiner view: Clean water is a right, but it is not free

last year, 191,000 people faced water restrictions, or were obliged to boil the water that came from their taps

The proposed introduction of water charges politicised ordinary people in a way that no other issue has done. It would be a very brave Government that attempts to rethink water charges. Picture: Nigel Bowles/Alamy

It is not entirely fair to quote the phrase “lies, damned lies and statistics” when considering the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest report on water quality, but its findings show that numbers can often mislead.

By any standard, the watchdog’s conclusion that 99.7% of water samples were compliant with bacterial and chemical limits is excellent news. For the most part, then, the public can be confident that the quality of drinking water in their homes remains “very high”.