OVER HALF A million people in Ireland are drinking from “at risk” public water supplies, while the number of long-term boil water notices in place almost doubled last year.

According to a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over 99.7% of public water supplies comply with bacterial and chemical limits, which means it is safe to drink.

However, the EPA said that many supplies still lack robust treatment measures to guarantee their long-term resilience and safety, and warned that progress to remove lead from supply networks to protect public health is “far too slow”. 

Last year, the number of people served by “at risk” supplies increased to 561,000, up from 481,000 in 2022. This is mostly due to detections of persistent Trihalomethanes (THMs) and cryptosporidium.

THMs are chemicals that may be found in water treated with chlorine. They are currently classified as “possibly carcinogenic” to humans. 

One-in-twenty supplies failed to meet the THM standard last year, with supplies on the EPA’s Remedial Action List for THMs impacting almost 300,000 people.  

The agency said greater effort is needed by Uisce Éireann to implement improvements at supplies to minimise exposure to THM’s, including at major supplies such as in Limerick City and Kilkenny City.

Meanwhile, boil water notices impacted 254,000 people last year. The number of boil water notices in place for more than 30 days stood at 46, up from 25 in 2022. 

The EPA said the recent trend of significantly more long-term boil water notices “needs to be reversed by Uisce Éireann and requires proactive measures to address the underlying causes and improve the resilience of these supplies”. 

On the issue of lead in drinking water supplies, the EPA said that despite Ireland having a “national lead strategy” in place, the Department of Housing has yet to publish a report on progress with strategy.

This means that the number and location of public buildings affected, the number of people exposed, and plans to remove lead are still not known. 

It said the “slow progress” by Uisce Éireann to remote lead connections in the public network continues.

Last year, Uisce Éireann replaced over 9,500 lead connections (over 10,000 in 2022), bringing the total number of replacements to around 61,000 out of approximately 180,000.

“At this rate, Uisce Éireann is highly unlikely to meet its commitment to remove all public-side lead pipework by 2026,” the report said.

The forthcoming reduced lead limit from the Drinking Water Directive, the slow rate of lead replacement, and the lack of updates under the National Lead Strategy, emphasises the need for more leadership at a national level.

“These works must not be delayed further as they are the only sustainable way to reduce people’s exposure to lead in drinking water.”

EPA programme manager Noel Byrne said Uisce Éireann “must accelerate the rollout of their lead mitigation plan to deal with the public supply network”. 

“The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Department of Health must outline their plans for lead replacement in public buildings and householders with lead pipes in their homes should avail of the enhanced lead remediation grant scheme to protect their health,” he said.

The EPA Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies 2023 report and the complete list of “at risk” public water supplies can be found on the EPA’s website.