A new report carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expects Ireland’s drinking water to adhere to EU standards no later than 2020, 16 years after the deadline for compliance.
The EPA Drinking Water Report 2017, which monitored 883 public water supplies, highlights how 99.9% of samples comply with microbiological standards, while 99.6% comply with chemical standards.
It was found that 72 supplies remain “at risk” on the EPA Remedial Action List. Out of these supplies, 52 have elevated levels of trihalomethanes and 17 lack adequate treatment to prevent Cryptosporidium entering the water supply.
Remedial works for 38 of these supplies are due to be complete by the end of 2018.
Mr Gerard O’Leary, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said that in order to meet EU standards by 2020 “continued investment” is needed to achieve this goal.
Darragh Page, Programme Manager at EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement added that we need to “remain vigilant” against E. coli in our drinking water but over the last ten years there has been a “downward trend” of E. coli present in public water supplies.
“The best way to ensure our drinking water is free of E. coli is by having a robust disinfection system in place with good checks and controls on the treatment process,” said Mr Page.
Further information on the report can be found here.
