EPA Publishes Drinking Water Report 2014

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has produced its latest report of the quality of drinking water in Ireland, providing an overview of drinking water quality in 2014.

The Drinking Water Report 2014 sets out the details of over 236,000 drinking water monitoring results carried out by Irish Water and the local authorities during the year. The report also includes details of the Agency's enforcement activities during 2014.

The report highlights the general good standard of drinking water that is in place for the vast majority of public water supplies in Ireland.

In 2014, over 99.4% of drinking water samples from public supplies complied with the microbiological and chemical parameters set out in the Drinking Water Regulations.

The EPA's report acknowledges the 'very significant' advances made in reducing the number of consumers on boil water notices. While there were more than 27,000 people affected by boil notices at the end of 2014, it is noted that the number affected by boil notices as of today has been reduced to 6,000.

The report however also draws attention to shortcomings in a number of areas in the quality of Ireland's drinking water due to historic under-investment over many years and points to the scale of investment and actions that will be needed to ensure that households, businesses, agriculture and industry have clean drinking water into the future.

The report notes that as these challenges are tackled, Irish Water's capability for enhanced asset management and increased capital investment is to be regarded as a significant opportunity to improve service delivery and resolve historic water quality issues.

Welcoming the reports, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Alan Kelly, said: "The provision of safe and reliable water supplies is essential for a modern country, and this report provides a timely and objective assessment of the achievements to date and the challenges ahead."

(MH/JP)