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Water Quality Issues

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 27 November 2012

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

Questions (495)

Denis Naughten

Question:

495. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government if he will confirm that each local authority has complied with the letter issued by the water quality section of his Department on 25 November 2002 that all public and private supplies of drinking water sourced from groundwater is tested for uranium; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53042/12]

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Written answers

The communication referred to in the Question was issued on foot of elevated levels of uranium being found at that time by the EPA’s groundwater monitoring programme in Co. Wicklow. Details of how this situation was addressed are contained in the EPA’s State of the Environment Report 2004 .

Since that communication issued in 2002, the European Communities (Drinking Water) (No. 2) Regulations 2007 have been introduced. These Regulations specify the frequency for sampling and analysis of water supplies and prescribe the limits for 48 microbiological, chemical and indicator parameters and standards which water supplies are required to meet. Drinking water samples are assessed for compliance with ‘total indicative dose’ (TID) which is the parametric standard for radiation set out in the Regulations.

Under the Regulations, the EPA is responsible for the supervision of the provision of public water supplies by local authorities, while local authorities are responsible for supervising other water suppliers. All water suppliers are required to ensure that water is clean and wholesome and this is verified by regular monitoring and sampling. The Regulations also refer to exempted supplies; these are individual supplies of less than 10 cubic metres per day or serving less than 50 persons and not serving any commercial or public activity. These supplies are not required to meet the monitoring requirements of the Regulations.

It is a responsibility of the EPA, under the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992, to publish the results of such water testing. The Act requires such reports to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas. The most recent drinking water report produced by the Agency, The Provision and Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland, A Report for the Year 2010 was published in 2011. These reports set out details on the monitoring results for drinking water quality.

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