The latest Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report on drinking water comes with the assurance that 99.7 per of public supplies are fully compliant with regulations, and of good quality. That is a commendable position and an indication of tangible progress being made by Uisce Éireann, which is responsible for the water network. It has benefited from a sustained level of infrastructure investment in a system it inherited that was suffering from chronic underinvestment.
The report for 2022, however, shows up a range of persisting problems. Almost 500,000 people are currently being served by 58 “at-risk” supplies. These include major population centres such as Limerick city and Enniscorthy. The number of people served by supplies on the EPA’s remedial action list, 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.
Trihalomethane failures – chemical contamination arising from disinfection which pose a health risk – 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″. Boil water notices impacted 182,000 people. This is a slight improvement since 2021, with one third of notices in place for more than 30 days.
Of most concern is the warning that too many supplies lack robust treatment measures to guarantee their long-term resilience, an essential requirement with both drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities. Big challenges are likely to arise from more frequent extreme weather events, predicted as a consequence of a disturbed climate – such as flash floods, coastal storms and periods of extended drought.
Separately, sustained population rises up to 2040, growth in tourism and increased industrialisation mean water demand is likely to escalate. This is a particular risk for businesses and manufacturing. They are exposed to significant production risks due to an unsustainable demand for industrial water. Problems are added to by additional pollution, ageing infrastructure and water shortages exacerbated by climate change.
While Ireland may be experiencing an unrelentingly wet summer, eastern areas – notably the greater Dublin area – are especially vulnerable to water shortages. Uisce Éireann has committed to pipe water from the River Shannon to the eastern region, but this is unlikely to happen until well into the 2030s. The utility must also improve its monitoring and alert systems with enhanced digitalisation throughout its networks. This will not only make them sustainable but sufficiently sturdy to withstand the climate-related challenges immediately ahead.