Written Answers. - Water Quality.
Willie Penrose
Question:
122
Mr. Penrose
asked the
Minister for the Environment and Local Government
the steps he intends to take to deal with the serious situation disclosed in the recent report from the Environmental Protection Agency, showing that 20% of public water supplies and more than 30% of private group water schemes were contaminated by faecal coliforms.
[2384/03]
Bernard Allen
Question:
407
Mr. Allen
asked the
Minister for the Environment and Local Government
if he will make a statement on the Environmental Protection Agency's recent report which showed high levels of contamination particularly in private water schemes.
[2539/03]
Bernard Allen
Question:
408
Mr. Allen
asked the
Minister for the Environment and Local Government
the steps he proposes to take to meet the terms of the new EU regulations on drinking water quality.
[2540/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 122, 407 and 408 together.
Statutory responsibility for the provision of drinking water supplies and for upholding the prescribed quality standards rests with local sanitary authorities. Stringent drinking water standards are prescribed by the European Communities (Quality of Water Intended for Human Consumption) Regulations 1988. The duty placed on sanitary authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure that drinking water meets these standards is performed under the general supervision of the EPA. The agency publishes a report annually on the quality of drinking water in Ireland, and a copy of the report for 2001 is available in the Oireachtas Library. The report is based on the results of some 146,000 individual tests on over 22,000 samples of drinking water taken from 2,440 supplies.
The EPA 2001 report confirms the fundamentally good quality of Irish drinking water with an overall compliance rate of 94.3% with prescribed standards for all supplies, based on 14 principal parameters. It also indicates improvements in the compliance rate for the important parameter faecal coliforms which, in public supplies, was up from 96.7% to 97.2% and, in group schemes, was up from 70.8% to 74.1%. Following on from recommendations made in previous years, documented procedures are in place or in preparation by a number of authorities to respond to detected breaches of quality standards. Future reports will highlight the extent to which deficiencies identified in EPA audits have been addressed.
Ongoing investment by my Department in the development and upgrading of water supply infrastructure is intended to maximise compliance with prescribed quality standards. The National Development Plan 2000-06 provides for investment amounting to some €1.3 billion on major water supply schemes, and the water services investment programme 2002-04 includes 218 public water supply schemes.
Water quality deficiencies in group water schemes are mainly confined to those schemes which are dependent on private sources, including rivers, lakes and boreholes. The schemes involved serve some 50,000 rural households. Since March 2000, all of these schemes are eligible for a 100% grant for the installation of water disinfection and treatment equipment. To ensure the most cost effective delivery and operation of such equipment, and secure the long-term protection of the related capital investment, procurement policy in the group sector is, in common with small public schemes, based on design, build, operate contracts, coupled with the grouping of numbers of schemes under a single contract. My Department recently produced a comprehensive procurement guidance document to assist local authorities and group schemes in the implementation of this policy. The EPA report acknowledges and welcomes the extensive Government response to problems in this sector.
Local authorities recently submitted applications for funding in respect of upgrading proposals for 375 individual group schemes which supply an estimated 33,000 rural households. I will shortly announce details of record capital allocations under the rural water programme, which will ensure that all these proposals are fully implemented. The new EU Drinking Water Directive 98/83/EC has been transposed into Irish law by the European Communities (Drinking Water) Regulations 2000. These come into operation on 1 January 2004 and will revoke and replace the European Communities (Quality of Water Intended for Human Consumption) Regulations 1988 with effect from that date. The regu lations will introduce strict time limits for compliance and provide for offences and penalties in the case of non-compliant private suppliers of drinking water. It is also intended to introduce a licensing system for the group water sector under the forthcoming water services Bill.
A comprehensive group water scheme monitoring programme commenced in October 2002. Under this programme drinking water in the estimated 1500 group schemes coming within remit of the new drinking water regulations will be sampled and analysed. I have also recently appointed consultants to assist in the establishment of a drinking water national monitoring programme. This will put in place a comprehensive, harmonised and uniform system of sampling, testing and reporting to assist compliance with the new regulations.
