The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies Report today. While compliance with drinking water standards remains high overall there has been an increase in the number of people impacted by boil water notices in 2023 compared to 2022. Water supply failures from trihalomethanes (cancer causing chemicals) and the presence of micro-organisms like Cryptospiridium and pesticides have also increased.
In August 2023, the Water Forum completed a survey of a nationally representative sample of water consumers and 41% of those respondents had a water supply issue in the past year. When asked if they felt future water supplies were secure, considering future climate change and population growth, 38% of the sample felt that Ireland’s drinking water was secure while nearly 34% felt the opposite. These findings suggests that water consumers lack knowledge about existing drinking water standards and future supply risks.
Trihalomethanes (THMs) are cancer causing chemicals that can form during the disinfecting treatment process of water containing organic matter. Climate change in Ireland is likely to result in an increase in extreme weather events, including heavy rainfall events and drought. Increasing temperatures and drought conditions can result in increased organic matter content in water sources, which may increase the THM challenge. In addition, pathogens such as cryptosporidium and pesticide chemicals can be washed from soils into waterways during heavy rainfall. Such outcomes require additional water treatment processes to be implemented and thus add to the complexity and cost of water treatment.
In the report, the EPA have called on Uisce Éireann to complete upgrades and improve or enhance processes to resolve these issues in order to build the resilience of drinking water supplies. The Water Forum believe that water service providers should improve communications with their customers to make them aware of the overall high standard of drinking water supply but also of the potential risks to supplies to encourage more water saving behaviours.
