Roscrea, Nenagh and Borrisokane water services deemed 'at risk'

WATER infrastructure in Roscrea, Nenagh and Borrisokane are among seven plants in Tipperary which have been identified as "at risk" by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

One plant in County Offaly - the Clara/Ferbane Regional Water Supply - was included in their latest report, in which the EPA say too many public water supplies lack robust treatment measures to guarantee their long-term resilience and safety. 

Almost 37,000 people in Tipperary and 500,000 in several counties are being served by 58 “at-risk” supplies dotted around the country, the report says, which also raises concerns about long-redundant lead water pipes still feeding domestic water systems.

The warning comes in its annual report on public water supplies for 2022 released on Tuesday. The number of people served by supplies on its remedial action list (RAL), which identifies “at-risk” supplies requiring improvements to safeguard public health, increased to nearly 481,000 — up from 374,000 at the end of 2021.

Persistent THM (trihalomethane) failures were detected at supplies serving 235,000 people, doubling the population affected since 2021, while “the cumulative risk from lead in our drinking water continues, with insufficient progress reported for 2022″, the report says.

THMs are chemicals arising from naturally occurring dissolved organic material in water and chlorine used in disinfection —long-term exposure poses a health risk.

The report shows, however, more than 99.7 percent of public water supplies comply with bacterial and chemical limits, “which means our public water is safe to drink”.

EPA director Tom Ryan said: “Our public water quality remains very high, which means the public can be confident that the drinking water supplied to their homes is safe to drink.”

“Lead in our drinking water is a cumulative risk to human health. Progress to remove lead from our drinking water supply networks, public buildings and affected homes is far too slow,” EPA programme manager Noel Byrne said. 

“Leadership is required at national level to address lead in public supplies. Uisce Éireann must accelerate the rollout of their lead mitigation plan and Government departments must outline their plan for lead replacement in public buildings as part of the National Lead Strategy,” he added.