Uisce Éireann has welcomed the removal of a further 25,763 customers in eight water supplies nationwide from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Remedial Action List. The RAL currently reflects the huge progress made by the utility in improving processes for testing and monitoring water supplies, improving drinking water quality and protecting public health.
The Remedial Action List identifies water supplies which require further upgrades in order to ensure full compliance with drinking water standards now and into the future. While the drinking water supplied by water treatment plants on the list is generally safe to drink (with the exception of those supplies which have current restriction notices in place), Uisce Éireann’s enhanced assessment of their performance, overseen by the EPA, has identified additional measures which need to be put in place to ensure the safety and security of these supplies into the future.
The updated RAL now contains 50 water supply zones, serving 540,687 people, which represents an overall decrease of seven supplies and 25,763 people served by ‘at risk’ supplies since the list was previously updated in February.
For each of the schemes remaining on the RAL, a detailed plan of action is being prepared to implement all necessary improvement measures as quickly as possible.
The schemes removed from the latest RAL include Corofin Co Clare; Killavullen Co Cork, Fermoy Co Cork; Kilkenny City (Radestown), Co Kilkenny; Glengar, Co Tipperary; Graiguenageeha, Co Waterford; Aughrim/ Annacurra, Co Wicklow; and Ballymorris, Co Wicklow.
In all these cases, targeted investment by Uisce Éireann has led to significant improvements in the security and quality of local water supplies that will benefit local homes and businesses now and for many years to come.
There has been one supply added to the RAL, Adare Co Limerick. For this supply – and all other supplies that remain on the list – Uisce Éireann is progressing action plans to address any underlying issues and ensure resilient water supplies for the communities they serve.
Dr Patrick O’Sullivan, Uisce Éireann’s Drinking Water Compliance Senior Manager, said: “We’re delighted to confirm over 25,000 more people have been removed from the Remedial Action List and can now rest easy in the knowledge that their drinking water meets the highest standards of quality and safety.
“In Uisce Éireann we are committed to ensuring that all our customers have safe, clean drinking water. An essential step in achieving this is putting a robust testing and monitoring regime in place to ensure that any existing risks can be found and remedied. Ireland has 702 water treatment plants, producing 1.7 billion litres of drinking water every day. The vast majority of this water – 99.7% – is fully compliant with microbiological and chemical standards and is safe to drink.
“We know that some of our water treatment plants need additional investment and we are working hard to bring all these plants fully up to modern standards. This can be a challenge in some areas due to the age of the infrastructure and decades of under-investment. However by implementing world-class standard standards for testing and monitoring, as well as day-to-day operational oversight, we are making excellent progress and continuing to improve overall drinking water standards for all our customers nationwide.”
To find out more visit the Uisce Éireann website at water.ie where detailed water quality information is available for all public water supplies in Ireland. If customers have any further questions they can get in touch with our contact centre at 1800 278 278.
