Deadly water bug problem still affects thousands of homes
Library image
Related Articles
THE quality of Irish drinking water is improving but serious problems still affect tens of thousands of homeowners, a major report has found.
Almost 120,000 people were told to boil or not drink their tap water last year because it was infected with potentially-deadly bugs, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report also found.
The EPA yesterday revealed that one in 20 public water supplies was contaminated with e-coli in 2008.
Up to 31pc of private group water schemes -- which provide water to 200,000 homes -- were also contaminated with the bug, which indicates that human or animal waste has entered the supply.
The environment watchdog yesterday warned that staff need to be better trained in how plants are operated to improve the standard of drinking water.
The report found basic operational errors in 56 water treatment plants.
These included:
- Failing to put the correct mix of chemicals into water;
- Using unapproved or inappropriate chemicals;
- Not changing filters which remove bacteria and bugs;
- Not installing chlorine monitors and alarms, which cost less than €10,000 and which detect the presence of dangerous bugs.
In some cases, plant staff did not have procedures in place if an alarm pointed to a problem with the supply.
The agency's Provision and Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland also reveals that 96 water supplies in Co Waterford need chlorine filters.
- PAUL MELIA
