The agency says the quality of drinking water in private supplies is “not as good as it should be”.
A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that E. coli was found in one in 20 private water supplies in Ireland in 2020.
Drinking water in Ireland is provided by over 380 group water schemes to around 200,000 people across rural communities.
Over 1,700 small private supplies also serve premises like hotels, pubs and restaurants, crèches, nursing homes and national schools, providing water to staff, customers and service users on a daily basis.
However, in 2020, 20 of the 380 private group schemes, serving more than 2,900 people, were found to have E. coli contamination, the EPA’s report outlines.
The bacteria was also found in 49 of the 1,225 small private supplies monitored.
According to the EPA, these failures at one in 20 private water supplies are of “significant concern” and “put the health of the consumer at risk”.
“Consumers should expect, as a minimum, that their water is safe to drink,” Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement Dr Tom Ryan said in a statement.
“However, compliance with the E. coli standard is not as good as it should be for water from private group water schemes and small private supplies.
“It is essential that works to improve water quality are carried out as soon as possible to eliminate the serious risks to people’s health.
“Water suppliers are obliged to make sure drinking water is clean and wholesome for consumers.”
The EPA also states that 22 private group schemes (7%) failed to meet the standard for trihalomethanes (THM), which are a by-product of the chlorine disinfection process and are formed where there is an excess of organic matter in the water source.
Water suppliers should keep THM levels within the drinking water standards to avoid any possible health impacts from long-term exposure, the agency states.
Its report also outlines that over one-quarter of small private supplies were not monitored in 2020.
“We recognise that, in many cases, the failure to monitor these premises was due to difficulties in accessing premises during Covid-19 restrictions,” Programme Manager of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement Noel Byrne added.
“However, it is vitally important that Local Authorities ensure all water supplies are monitored annually to provide assurance to consumers that their drinking water is safe”.
You can read the EPA’s report on its website here.
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