Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies Report 2024, which shows that although over 99.8 per cent of samples from public water supplies comply with bacterial and chemical limits, many supplies still lack robust treatment to guarantee their long-term resilience.
The EPA’s Remedial Action List identifies ‘at-risk’ supplies that require improvements to safeguard public health. In 2024 there has been a reduction in the number of people served by supplies on the Remedial Action List – down to almost 497,000 (from 561,000 in 2023). At the end of 2024, there were seven supplies that remained on the RAL for over two years and, while an action programme is currently being defined by Uisce Éireann for these supplies, a completion date has yet to be provided.
The EPA has taken enforcement action in 2024 against Uisce Éireann by issuing 20 legally binding directions for supplies on the Remedial Action List. The EPA said this is to ensure long-term improvements are carried out in the timeframe proposed. Supplies on the RAL must be addressed as a priority for Uisce Éireann.
Launching the report, Dr Micheál Lehane, EPA Director said:
“Our public water quality remains very high. This means that the public can remain confident that drinking water supplied to their homes is safe to drink. While I welcome the decrease in the number of people served by ‘at-risk’ supplies, the EPA – through our audit programme – continues to identify supplies that lack adequate resilience. Uisce Éireann needs to implement the findings of Risk Assessments to improve the resilience of supplies and maintain the quality of our drinking water. Long-term sustained investment in water services infrastructure is required to provide this resilience into the future.”
The report shows that good progress has been made in other areas such as disinfection, and completion of Risk Assessments (Drinking Water Safety Plans) but progress on removing lead from the supply network remains far too slow.
Regarding lead in drinking water, Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager, said:
“Lead in our drinking water is a cumulative risk to human health and must be removed from our supply network. The risk is greatest for young children, infants and babies in the womb. Despite Ireland having a National Lead Strategy in place since 2015, progress to date has been far too slow. The legal limit for lead in our drinking water will halve in 2036 (from 10ugl to 5ug/l) – so much greater focus is needed by Government Departments and Uisce Éireann to remove lead from the supply network and public buildings. The EPA welcomes the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage commitment to review progress in 2025.”
The EPA Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies 2024 Report and the complete list of public water supplies currently on the Remedial Action List – including details of the proposed remedial measures and associated timeframes – are available on the EPA website.
