Portloman among 12 plants treating lead in drinking water

The Portloman water treatment plant, which supplies Mullingar, is one of 12 facilities nationwide where orthophosphate dosing is now in place to reduce the danger of lead dissolving into drinking water.

The treatment – used as a short-term measure to manage health risks from lead pipework – has been expanded from 10 plants in 2023 to 12 this year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The agency, in its report ‘Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies 2024’, has expressed concern over the slow progress by Uisce Éireann in the removal of lead connections in the public network (public-side).

Uisce Éireann removed just over 4,000 public-side lead connections in 2024, less than half the number replaced in 2023, when more than 9,500 were completed. That took the total number of replacements to approximately 65,000 out of approximately 180,000 across the country to date.

While the EPA notes that the 180,000 figure may be outdated and likely an overestimate, it warns that, at the current rate of progress, Uisce Éireann will not meet its pledge to eliminate all public-side lead pipework by 2026. The EPA continues to stress that while orthophosphate dosing helps reduce immediate exposure, full removal of lead pipes remains the only long-term solution to ensuring safe drinking water for the public. The report finds that over 99.8 per cent of samples from public water supplies comply with bacterial and chemical limits, which means it is safe to drink.

Private households

Meanwhile, the report notes that progress on the removal of lead pipes by householders remains sluggish, despite a “slight increase” in 2024 over 2023.

The Lead Remediation Grant Scheme was revised in 2023 to make it easier to access, with enhanced financial support now available. However, fewer than 250 household lead pipe replacements were completed nationwide in 2024 – a figure the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes as far too low given the scale of the problem.

The EPA is urging more homeowners to avail of the grant, which in many cases can cover up to 100% of the cost of removing lead pipes from domestic properties.

Quality

Good news for the public was the finding in the report that over 99.8 per cent of samples from public water supplies comply with bacterial and chemical limits, which means it is safe to drink.