Greater E-coli and cancer risks in rural water schemes in Ireland. Thousands of people drank THMs chemical compounds: EPA

Greater E-coli and cancer risks in rural water schemes in Ireland. Thousands of people drank THMs chemical compounds, difficult to estimate number of people : EPA

Last year thousands of people were exposed to E.coli from contaminated rural water schemes, and thousands more drank from supplies of high levels of the cancer-linked chemical.

Problems were identified in 380 private group water schemes and 1,700 small private distributions that provide drinking water to more than 200,000 people. However, quality problems may be more widespread as not all private supplies are registered with the local authority and those that are registered are not inspected.

The most recent inspection data from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that one in 30 private supplies failed drinking water standards, or one in 734 public water supplies.

Last year, 14 projects, serving more than 5,500 people, failed standards for E.coli, a bacteria that comes from sewage and animal waste. It can cause serious gastrointestinal illnesses, and its presence in water usually indicates that the supply has not been adequately disinfected.

Another major problem is the high levels of trihalomethanes (THMs), chemical compounds that are formed when chlorine is added to disinfect plants and other organic matter. Group schemes supplying 14,000 people had excessive THMs, indicating that the supply was not adequately filtered before disinfection.

THMs have been linked to cancer and other diseases, and the European Commission is taking legal action against Ireland after its continued failure to deal with the problem.

The report is available on the EPA website. 

Further information: Emily Williamson, EPA Media Relations Office 053-9170770 (24 hours) or media@epa.ie

Notes to Editor:

Some key findings of the 2022 report on private water supplies:

• 266 (16%) of the 1,700 small private supplies registered were not monitored.
• The percentage of schemes fully compliant with the E. coli standards was as follows:
  • Private group water schemes – 95.9% (14 of 370 failed to meet the standard)
  • Small private supplies – 95.5% (73 of 1,434 failed to meet the standard).
• Sixteen private group schemes and one small private supplies failed to meet the Trihalomethanes (THM) standard.
• Monitoring data is available at the following link: SAFER-Data: Welcome to SAFER (epa.ie)

Small private supplies also had problems with E-coli, with 67 of the 1,623 supplies tested failing to meet the required standards. Estimating the number of people exposed to pollution is difficult as smaller private supplies are those serving commercial and community premises such as hotels, pubs, schools and nursing homes that do not have a mains supply.

Source : https://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/epa-thousands-exposed-to-e-coli-on-private-water-supplies/