22/12/21
Drinking Water
Regulated Packaged Water Establishments in Ireland
The European Union (Natural Mineral Waters, Spring Waters and other Waters in Bottles or Containers) Regulations 2016 (S.I. No. 282 of 2016) places a responsibility on the producers of bottled water to ensure the source is protected and sets the quality and the treatment standards for the final product.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland is the competent authority for enforcement of these Regulations.
Locations of packaged water companies
Abbeyleix Drinking Water Supply Audit
Audit to assess the suitability of the Abbeyleix Public Water Supply (PWS) for removal
from the EPA’s Remedial Action List (RAL).
The Abbeyleix PWS is on the EPA’s RAL since Quarter 2 2019 due to inadequate treatment for Cryptosporidium
This note in the audit suggests that results are not easy to access. It would be an interesting test case to submit an Open Data Directive request for Irish Water SCADA feed, which would highlight water quality issues in almost realtime: “Results have not been incorporated on the county wide SCADA system so cannot be accessed remotely by operators”
Drinking Water Monitoring Results and Water Supply Details for Ireland – Year 2020
This is the best way to locate and download the data from EPA SAFER database
Click on:
Click on view full details, it will bring you here:
https://eparesearch.epa.ie/safer/iso19115/displayISO19115.jsp?isoID=6000
Click on full attachment list to get all counties
Notes on the data:
This dataset consists of drinking water monitoring results and water supply details reported annually to the EPA by water services authorities in accordance with the Drinking Water Regulations for the year 2020. There are 48 parameters monitored under the regulations, including E. coli, coliform bacteria, pH, ammonium, conductivity, turbidity, taste, odour and colour. The information on water supplies includes population served, volume, source type and treatment. The data is organised by year and by local authority. Each local authority data is presented in a separate ZIP file.
The data are presented on Excel Spreadsheet files. For each local authority for 2020 there are four files. These files contain:
The list of exceedances of the parametric value (limit) set in the Drinking Water Regulations
The list of compliance monitoring results
The shortfall in monitoring
Details of the water supply – population served, volume, source type and treatment etc.
The percentage compliance of all supplies with all parameters.
This dataset has been made openly available to all public access. Please read below regarding citation for further usage of the data.
The results and data are provided in Microsoft Excel XLS file format.
There are 31 zip files available. The approximate size of each zip file is less than 1 MB. Some of the files might be a little larger than 1MB. Once you download one zip file and confirm the download details you will be provided with a direct quick download to all remaining files.
For any drinking water data queries, email drinkingwater@epa.ie (EPA Drinking Water Team)
Drinking Water (Small Private Supplies) Trihalomethanes (THMs) Fails (2020)
Source: EPA
Small private water supplies that failed testing for Trihalomethanes (THMs) Fails in 2020
Drinking Water (Private Group Water Schemes): Trihalomethanes (THMs) Fails (2020)
Source: EPA
Private group water schemes that failed testing for THMs in 2020
Drinking Water (Small Private Supplies) E. coli Fails (2020)
Source: EPA
Small private water supplies that failed testing for E coli in 2020
Drinking Water (Private Group Water Schemes): E. coli Fails (2020)
Source: EPA
Private group water schemes that failed testing for E coli in 2020
EPA Audit Report: Carrick-On-Suir (Lingaun River)
Barndarrig (Wicklow) Public Drinking Water Supply
Drinking Water Audit Report in respect of Audit carried out on 02/03/21 at Barndarrig Public Drinking Water Supply.
Irish Water issued a Do Not Consume Notice to 220 consumers of Barndarrig public water supply on 09/02/21 due to nitrite exceedances in the final water at Barndarrig water treatment plant. The incident was suitably escalated and managed in order to protect public health.
Investigations into the cause of the nitrite contamination have been inconclusive to date. Irish Water and Wicklow County Council should complete the investigations and identify any remedial measures necessary to address potentially polluting activities in the zone of contribution to the borehole source.
Daily samples are taken (Monday to Friday) for analysis of nitrite
To date, the investigation has been inconclusive in determining the cause of the nitrite contamination of the borehole source
Irish Water plans to install a continuous nitrite monitor at Barndarrig water treatment plant to provide real time data and to serve as a warning system if nitrite levels rise again
During the audit, neither Irish Water or Wicklow County Council could rule out the possible impact of recent slurry spreading in the area or leakage from the sewer network in the vicinity
EPS Ireland representatives confirmed there is 36 to 48 hours storage of treated water in the reservoir at Barndarrig water treatment plant. This will allow the plant to be shut down temporarily if nitrite levels exceed a critical level, when the continuous nitrite monitor is in place at the plant