Vol. 492 No. 2
122 Mr. Gormley asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the level of compliance in public drinking water supplies with statutory quality standards; the reason for the decline in standards in the event that the level of compliance is less than the 94 per cent reported in May 1995; the measures, if any, his Department has in place to bring compliance to 100 per cent; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13842/98]
The recent report of the Environmental Protection Agency on drinking water quality in 1996 indicates that overall quality continues to be satisfactory in the public supplies. Apart from coliforms and fluoride, compliance levels in respect of strictly health-related parameters were above 99 per cent in 1996. In the case of coliforms and fluoride, the compliance levels were 92.39 per cent and 90.48 per cent respectively, representing a slight improvement on the 1995 position. I have asked local authorities to ensure that intensive follow-up measures are taken where exceedances from statutory quality standards have occurred.
My Department is pursuing a programme of substantial capital investment in upgrading and providing water supply schemes to cater for demands generally and ensure compliance with the quality standards of the drinking water directive. Expenditure on major water schemes since 1994 has totalled more than £190 million.
Almost £185 million is available for my Department's water and sewerage investment programme in 1998, an increase of £22 million or 13 per cent on the 1997 provision for these services. This will facilitate increased activity under the programme in respect of water supply schemes.
There is a lower level of compliance with the drinking water standards in the case of private group and small private supplies, particularly for the coliform parameter. A range of measures was introduced by my Department in 1997 to deal with water quality problems in these supplies. I refer the Deputy to the reply to Question No. 225 of 6 May 1998 for details of measures being taken to address problems in such supplies.
