More than 100 private water supplies failed to meet the bacterial standard for drinking water in 2019.
The Environmental Protection Agency says it’s a serious issue that’s putting people’s health at risk.
It’s calling on suppliers, local authorities and government to improve the situation.
More than a million people across the County get water from private sources, including those at national schools, creches and nursing homes. Large numbers of commercial outlets like hotels, pubs and restaurants in rural areas are also served by private water sources.
The EPA say 88 of the 1,418 small private supplies monitored failed to meet the standards relating to E coli bacteria, which is the most important indicator of safe drinking water.
Twenty of the 417 private group schemes monitored during the year, serving approximately 3,000 people, failed to meet these standards.
The report found that four schemes failed due to a lack of operational disinfection infrastructure, with temporary loss of power supply and poor management practices accounting for most of the other failures.
Senior water inspector at the EPA, Dr. Michelle Minihan is also concerned about the monitoring of drinking water supplies:
