There was just one incident of E. coli contamination of a public water supply reported in Westmeath during 2007, in the Mullaghmeenan rechlorination station supply zone.
That’s according to figures released this week by the Environmental Protection Agency, which found group water schemes in Westmeath to be of “good microbiological quality” overall.
All 35 public group water schemes and three private group water schemes were free of contamination and no sample tested contained E.coli or Enterococci.
However, across the Midlands region, eight public and private water supplies tested positive for E.coli during 2007, while levels of E. coli contamination in drinking water supplies across Ireland were found to be almost 30 times higher than in England.
One third of all public water supplies were identified as potentially risky to human health and in need of replacement or upgrading.
In spite of positive results regarding E.coli levels in Westmeath, the county’s overall rate of compliance, at 96.9 per cent, was below the national average and dropped from 99.1 per cent in Westmeath in 2006, due to an increase in monitoring in the predominantly poorer quality small private supplies.
