To ensure Galway’s drinking water supplies are of the highest quality, the county’s two local authorities will have to publish the results of their drinking water sampling programmes online.
Galway city has endured serious drinking water contamination crisis in recent times, including cryptosporidium in 2007 and the lead contamination of water in Old Mervue. Such occurrences undermine public confidence in the quality of drinking water and cause concerns for health.
In order to ensure drinking water is of the highest possible standards, the Minister for the Environment John Gormley this week issued instructions to all local authorities in the State - including the Galway city and county councils - to publish the results of their drinking water sampling programmes on their websites. He also wants such data to be “made available from a prominent position” on each local authority’s homepage.
Under the 2007 Drinking Water Regulations the State’s 34 county and city councils are required to prepare a monitoring programme to cover each water supply in their area and to monitor all water supplies for which they are responsible. The regulations also set down a range of chemical and micro-biological standards which drinking water supplies must comply with.
Where a local authority determines through its monitoring that the standards set down in the Regulations have been exceeded, it is obliged to consult with the HSE and, in the case of public water supplies, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ).
The minister’s direction to local authorities also provides that where a supply of water intended for human consumption becomes a potential danger to health, the monitoring results and advice from the HSE and the EPA, should be made available on the local authority’s website promptly.
“Improved consumer access to information on the quality of drinking water will be a key driver in bringing about a sustained improvement in the quality of water services,” Minister Gormley said. “Ready access by consumers to up-to-date data on water quality also empowers consumers to actively engage with the water supplier to seek information or reassurance in relation to their drinking water supply.”
