Water Supply and Sanitation in The Republic of Ireland - Service Quality

Service Quality

The quality of water from the public mains is usually quite high and up the EU drinking water standards. However, the poor microbiological quality of rural private group water schemes and groundwater continue to be challenges for authorities responsible for drinking water.

The quality of drinking water in Ireland was brought forcefully to the attention of the Irish public with the outbreak of cryptosporidiosis in Galway during 2007, which caused illness in over 240 people, and led to the imposition of a boil water notice in Galway for a period of 5 months during the peak tourist season. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), while "many have taken the quality of drinking water in Ireland for granted in the past, this can no longer be the case".

On 14 November 2002, Ireland was condemned by the European Court of Justice over the microbiological contamination of hundreds of public and private water supplies. The EU's Drinking Water Directive requires an absence of E. coli in drinking water supplies in order to protect human health. In 2007 EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas gave the Irish government a final warning before a fine would be issued: "I am concerned that, more than four years after a court ruling, and despite substantial Government investments, a significant number of local authority and private water supplies still show a presence of E. coli."