Water quality problems

THIS TIME last year, the citizens of Galway protested because their drinking water supply was contaminated by the potentially life-threatening parasite cryptosporidium. Clonmel was next. Now it is the turn of the people of Roundstone in Connemara.

And many other towns and villages are at risk. Apart from the immediate inconvenience to householders and the health risks involved, the inability of local authorities to effectively manage and modernise their water treatment plants threatens the development of our tourism industry.

Additional Government investment is needed, along with the training of local authority staff. A co-operative approach would also help. The cryptosporidium parasite can come from inadequate local authority sewage works; from neglected septic tanks and from farming sources. Yet those who manage all three seek to evade their responsibilities.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been scathing about a consistent failure by local authorities to manage their sewage and water treatment works. Many rural householders simply ignore unacceptable discharges from their septic tanks. And farming organisations have campaigned against measures to minimise pollution by animal faeces.

Drinkable tap water is one of the few public services that people should be entitled to take for granted. But, increasingly, notices to boil water are being issued by local authorities. And where cryptosporidium is involved even teeth-brushing is unsafe.

The European Commission threatened the Government with heavy fines for failing in its obligation to ensure a supply of safe drinking water. As a consequence, legislation was eventually passed last year. And a three-year investment programme in water and sewage treatment works was recently published by Minister for the Environment John Gormley.

It contained a contingency fund for dealing with outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis. But it will almost certainly fall short of what is required, given that the EPA has warned that one in five of all public water supply schemes is operating under conditions of high risk.

In the past, the main threat to public health came from E.coli which enters the water supply from human and animal waste and is relatively easy to treat. Cryptosporidium is more resilient. It has become a threat because of over-development, inadequate controls and a shortfall in investment. Building sewage and water treatment plants is part of the solution. But strict enforcement of water quality regulations is equally important.

© 2008 The Irish Times

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times