Multiple private drinking wells don't meet public health standards, report finds
PRIVATE drinking water quality is not as good as public water quality, with E. coli contamination found in several sources.
According to a report published by the EPA, the total number of small private drinking wells remains unknown as not all have registered with their local authority.
There are 1,700 small private supplies and private group schemes registered with local authorities, but the total number of small private supplies remains unknown, many rural commercial and public activities such as schools, creches, nursing homes, pubs and restaurants have their own drinking water wells.
The report from the EPA, Drinking Water Quality in Private Group Schemes and Small Private Supplies 2022, monitored 84% of registered small private supplies in 2022, compared with 75% in 2021.
Several key issues in the provision of rural water have been identified that need to be addressed to protect public health, such as contamination of sources.
In 2022, 14 private group schemes were found to have E. coli contamination, indicating that the water supply has not been properly disinfected. The failure of these disinfection systems put the health of approximately 5,500 people that use these drinking water supplies at risk.
A further 73 small private supplies were also found to be contaminated with E. coli.
In 2022, 16 private group schemes supplying 14,000 people also failed the standard for Trihalomethanes (THMs). These are formed when natural organic matter in the water source, such as vegetation, reacts with chlorine used in the disinfection treatment process.
Commenting on the findings of the report, Dr Tom Ryan, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said; "It is a local public health concern that private drinking water quality hasn’t improved in recent years despite the availability of public funding to support upgrades to water supplies."
"In addition, as there is no legal requirement to register private drinking water supplies, it is not possible to quantify the full extent of the risk to public health. The registration of private supplies needs to become a legally enforceable obligation on the supplier," he continued.
A review of the rural water sector was completed in January 2023 on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The review identified several significant issues that need to be addressed to improve drinking water compliance and reduce public health risk in private water supplies.
These include a need for all private water supplies should be registered with the local authority, access to funding for water quality improvements, which varies greatly across local authorities resulting in available funding not being used, and measures to improve management at underperforming private group schemes.