THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION Agency (EPA) has said that the vulnerability of Ireland’s drinking water supplies must be urgently addressed by Irish Water.
Released today, the EPA Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies report from 2020 found that the quality of drinking water in public supplies remains high, with over 99.7% compliance with bacterial and chemical limits.
However, it said that improvements are needed in drinking water infrastructure to protect public health.
The EPA’s Remedial Action List, a priority list of “at-risk” drinking water supplies, identified 46 vulnerable supplies, which serve over one million consumers, with significant issues to be addressed by Irish Water at the end of 2020.
The list includes supplies such as Cork City, which serves over 90,000 people, Longford Central, serving around 17,000 people, and Corofin, Co. Clare, serving around 1,300 people.
The report said that 43 boil water notices and 17 water restrictions were in place last year, affecting almost 80,000 people. 27 of these notices were in place for over 30 days, meaning they are classed as long-term notices which require investment in infrastructure to address.
E.coli bacteria was detected in three supplies, compared to eight supplies in 2019, while trihalomethanes limits were exceeded in 35 supplies, compared to 46 in 2019. This number has reduced from 77 since 2017.
Launching the report, EPA Director Dr Tom Ryan said that although it is good news that our water is safe to drink today, the group “cannot say with confidence” that it is resilient into the future.
“The EPA remains concerned about the vulnerability of many drinking water supplies nationally. Irish Water needs to fix the remaining supplies on the EPA’s Remedial Action List without further delay,” he said.
Recent incidents at Gorey and Ballymore Eustace water treatment plants have highlighted the absolute necessity for Irish Water to ensure our public water supplies are properly and effectively operated, and managed, to protect public health.
The report said the EPA has “serious concerns” about the time it takes to implement improvements. Of the 46 supplies on the RAL at the end of 2020, almost half will now take longer to complete than was anticipated at the end of last year.
For example, it states that Irish Water promised in 2018 to complete supply for Clonmel-Poulavanogue in December 2020. It now has a completion date of December 2026.
The group also found deficiencies in the national disinfection programme, and a “continued lack of focus” by Irish Water and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage on plans to remove lead from supply connections and assessments of the extent of lead pipework in public buildings.
“It is not acceptable that these works, which would reduce people’s exposure to lead in drinking water and deliver such an important public health outcome, are being delayed,” it said.
The report said there was limited progress by Irish Water in 2020 to replace lead connections, with just over 3,000 individual lead connections replaced compared to 15,000 in 2019.
It said that at the 2020 replacement rate, it will “take decades” for Irish Water to remove all lead connections.
15,500 consumers were on boil water notices for over a month in 2020, and 145,000 households still have lead connections from water mains.
EPA Programme Manager Noel Byrne said these figures highlight the vulnerabilities that continue to exist in drinking water supplies.
“Irish Water must expedite lead connection replacements and progress improvements to disinfection systems – including addressing the issues with the disinfection programme identified by the EPA – to ensure that the quality of drinking water is adequately safeguarded,” he said.
Commenting on the report, head of environmental regulation at Irish Water Katherine Walshe said: “Irish Water acknowledges the report and the important work the EPA undertakes as the supervisory authority for public water supplies.”
“Overall, in 2020 public water supplies were 99.5% compliant which is a world class level of compliance with the drinking water regulations. Given the size and scale of investment needed to upgrade water treatment plants and the wider water network, Irish Water is very pleased to achieve such a high compliance rate for the Irish public.
She said the company made “major investments in new and upgraded plants” in 2020, as well as delivering “improvement programmes at our plants to enhance the quality and consistency of supply”.
Our investment continues. We are advancing Drinking Water Safety Plans for all of our larger supplies, with a key emphasis on minimising risks from source to tap. We have engaged extensively and comprehensively with the EPA on this and will prioritise funding towards those schemes at highest risk.
Walshe added that despite this, the report makes clear that much more needs to be done to secure water supplies into the future.
“Irish Water has plans underway to work with Local Authorities and other delivery partners to further enhance our ability to manage public water supplies to the required standards as set out in the Drinking Water Directives,” she said.
“Irish Water have also rolled out critical training to all Local Authorities to ensure alarms and controls are in place and are operationally effective to ensure public health is protected now and into the future.”
The EPA report said Irish Water has begun using Drinking Water Safety Plans to identify the risks on public water supplies and improve their security.
The new Drinking Water Directive (EU) 2020/2184, which was adopted by the European Union in December 2020, is to be transposed into Irish law by January 2023.
The EPA said it is anticipated that this will put the requirement for Drinking Water Safety Plans on a statutory footing.
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