TODAY MARKS A much-anticipated development in Irish Water’s first ever plan to provide a more sustainable and reliable public water supply in Ireland over the next 25 years.

The national plan aims to identify the pressures and challenges that climate change, population growth and economic development will pose to the countries’ water supply.

Over the next three months a public consultation process will take place in the North West, an area that encompasses 12 counties and eight islands off our coast, that aims to identify water supply needs across the region and pressing local concerns.

The area is supplied by 142 Water Treatment Plants which serve 732,700 people, and 74,000 businesses.

Irish Water have stated that through their regional water resources plan they aim to provide a “transparent roadmap on how Irish Water will plan for its water assets to align with national policy.”

The plan is to set out what action Irish Water will take to “transform” their water supplies to ensure that they can provide a “safe, secure, reliable and sustainable water supply” for current and future customers.

A statement issued by Irish Water says that they have made “key progress” to date on “leakage reductions, capital investment works, and works in progress.

A recent Environmental Protection Agency report stated that the overall the quality of drinking water in public supplies remains high, but the report also highlighted key concerns – in particular the risks that lead pipes will continue to pose over the next 24 years.

The EPA report slammed Irish Water’s progress on replacing lead pipes as “unacceptable.”

At the launch of the public consultation in the North West, Irish Water Regional Water Resources Strategy Lead Mairéad Conlon said that today marks an “important step.”

 “It will allow Irish Water to review water supply needs across the region and consider local options to resolve these needs.

“The draft Regional Plan will offer key benefits in terms of transformation of our supplies, including the ability to cater for growth and economic development in a sustainable way, through improved interconnectivity between our supplies to ensure balanced regional development and new sustainable water sources that are adaptable to climate change,” she further commented.

Ms Conlon said that her team intends to meet as many people in the region as possible to hear their concerns and ensure that they will be taken into account.

You can find out more about the public consultation process and how to have your say here.