A recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has revealed multiple breaches of E. Coli standards in private group water schemes, reports RTE.
The Drinking Water Quality in Private Group Schemes and Small Private Supplies 2024 report found that 24 private group schemes failed to comply with E. Coli safety standards in 2024.
This marks an increase of 13 non-compliant schemes compared to 2022, reports RTE.
At present, over 370 private group schemes are responsible for providing drinking water to 193,000 individuals living in rural areas across Ireland.
In addition to these, numerous businesses and public facilities rely on water from privately operated wells, reports RTE.
Nearly 1,700 small private water supplies are registered with local councils, although many more remain unregistered.
A shortfall in existing drinking water laws means private water suppliers are not legally obligated to register, leaving the full number of such small supplies in the country unknown, reports RTE.
These unregistered systems include those supplying water to locations such as schools, care homes, sports facilities, and holiday accommodations.
The quality of water from unregistered sources is not subject to oversight by local authorities, reports RTE.
“The lack of a mandatory requirement to register a private supply serving water to the public is a serious legislative gap that must be addressed,” said EPA Director Laura Burke. Without registration and subsequent monitoring by local authorities, consumers are unaware of the potential health risk they may be exposed to,” reports RTE.
“Everyone has the right to safe drinking water. We want to see mandatory registration, but in the interim, we strongly encourage private suppliers to register with local authorities so that all proper safety checks can be carried out on their supply,” reports RTE.
Meeting E. Coli standards is the baseline requirement for delivering safe drinking water, and any failure suggests insufficient disinfection that must be corrected by the supplier.
Out of the 24 private schemes that did not meet E. Coli standards in 2024, six recorded consecutive failures for two years running, reports RTE.
Five of those six are currently under long-term boil water advisories.
Additionally, E. Coli contamination was found in 51 small private supplies monitored by local authorities, putting consumers who use these supplies at risk, reports RTE.
Noel Byrne, Programme Manager of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring said: “E. Coli contamination of a drinking water supply can cause serious public health impacts. E. Coli compliance has declined with almost double the number of private supplies failing in 2024 compared to 2022. This needs to be addressed as every community deserves access to safe, clean drinking water. Suppliers must take action to upgrade their systems and meet standards,” reports RTE.
“Local authorities, as the regulator of private group schemes, need to take the necessary enforcement action to ensure public health is protected,” he added, reports RTE.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Mr Byrne said: “The key thing the EPA are calling on for today is really for mandatory registration of businesses that supply water to the public from their own well, just to make sure the proper checks are completed by local authorities on these supplies and that public health is protected.”
He mentioned that there is potential for improvement in meeting water quality standards, but the pace of change remains slow, reports RTE.
“We do need to see the local authority … working with these group schemes, but also then if they’re not brought into compliance local authorities may need to take action to bring them into compliance.”
On the subject of smaller water systems, he noted the EPA lacks data on their total number due to the absence of a registration requirement.
He further stated that public safety would be better ensured if registering such supplies became mandatory, reports RTE.
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