A new report from Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA says that the quality of drinking water from public supplies in Ireland remains very high but the resilience of many supplies needs to improve.

According to the EPA’s Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies Report 2022, many supplies still lack robust treatment measures to guarantee their long-term resilience and safety.

The EPA's Remedial Action List (RAL) identifies "at-risk" supplies that require improvements to safeguard public health. In 2022, the number of people served by public water supplies on the RAL increased to nearly 481,000, up from 374,000 at the end of 2021.

Launching the report, Dr Tom Ryan, EPA Director said:

“Our public water quality remains very high, which means that the public can be confident that the drinking water supplied to their homes is safe to drink. Uisce Éireann has made good progress in delivering necessary new drinking water infrastructure such as the new plant at Lee Road in Cork which now supplies high quality drinking water to 97,000 people.

“However, the EPA through our inspection and monitoring programme, continues to identify drinking water plants that are at risk and require improvements and upgrades. At the end of 2022, there were 481,000 people being served by at risk supplies on EPA’s RAL. Uisce Éireann needs to prioritise investment in those plants to improve the resilience of drinking supplies, to provide a safe and secure supply into the future.”

In addition, the growing number of people affected by persistent THM (Trihalomethane) failures, now at 235,000 people, is of particular concern. The EPA says greater effort is needed by Uisce Éireann to implement improvements at supplies to minimise exposure to THM’s, including at major supplies such as Limerick City and the Barrow supply in Kildare.

With regard to lead in drinking water, Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager, added:

“Lead in our drinking water is a cumulative risk to human health. Progress to remove lead from our drinking water supply networks, public buildings and affected homes is far too slow. The EPA welcomes the expansion of the lead remediation grant scheme, which will ease the financial burden on homeowners to replace lead piping. However, leadership is required at national level to address lead in public supplies. Uisce Éireann must accelerate the rollout of their lead mitigation plan and Government departments must outline their plan for lead replacement in public buildings as part of the National Lead Strategy.”

In 2022, boil water notices impacted 182,000 people -- a slight improvement since 2021. One third of boil water notices were in place for more than 30 days.

The EPA is warning that the risk of boil water notices on some supplies will remain until Uisce Éireann takes proactive measures to address the underlying causes and improve the resilience of these supplies.

Key findings of the 2022 report on public water supplies include:

• 99.96 per cent of samples comply with microbiological parameter limits.
• 99.62 per cent of samples comply with chemical parameter limits.
• 58 supplies were on the EPA’s Remedial Action List (RAL) at the end of 2022, compared to 52 at the end of 2021.
• 79 boil water notices and 10 water restrictions were in place in 2022, affecting almost 191,000 people.
• 25 of those boil water notices were in place for more than 30 days, meaning they are classed as long-term notices requiring investment in infrastructure to address.
• E. coli bacteria was detected in three supplies, compared to four supplies in 2021.
• Trihalomethanes (THM) limits were exceeded in 45 supplies, compared to 58 in 2021.
• Pesticides limits were exceeded in 17 supplies, compared to 31 in 2021.

Uisce Éireann, Ireland's national water authority, said the EPA Report shows that Ireland’s public drinking water supplies remain among the best in the world as a result of the ongoing high level of investment and improved operational measures being implemented.

In 2022, the utility invested over €500 million in water treatment plants and networks, with a number of new water treatment plants built or significantly upgraded and an additional 30 sites enhanced under the National Disinfection Programme. Key projects completed include:

• a new treatment plant in Cork City benefitting over 97,000 people with a cleaner, more secure drinking water supply
• new or upgraded water treatment plants in Skibbereen (Cork), Mountain Stage and Ballyheigue (Kerry), Ballymagroarty (Donegal), Ballymahon (Longford) and Athlone (Westmeath).
• the progression of another significant upgrade of the Leixlip Water Treatment Plant which is benefitting over 600,000 customers in Dublin with improved drinking water quality

Commenting on the report’s findings, Tom Cuddy, Uisce Éireann’s Head of Asset Operations said:

“Uisce Éireann operates over 700 water treatment plants across Ireland and we are committed to delivering transformative water services which enable communities to thrive.

“In 2022, we invested over €500 million in our water treatment plants and networks, with a number of new water treatment plants built or significantly upgraded and an additional 30 sites enhanced under the National Disinfection Programme.

“We have an ambitious capital investment programme, through which we will continue to improve the safety and resilience of Ireland’s drinking water supplies in the years to come…..

“We recognise that challenges remain in addressing all the issues associated with our ageing water infrastructure. It will take a number of years and sustained high levels of investment to address all these legacy issues, but we are confident that our ambitious capital investment programme will enable us to transform Ireland’s water services and ensure a safe, sustainable, secure and reliable drinking water supply for everyone now and into the future.”

Click here to download Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies Report 2022