EPA report shows high compliance levels but warns of pressure on water supplies
Ireland’s drinking water from public supplies remains safe, but further work is needed to improve long-term resilience and protect public health, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA’s Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies 2025 report found that the quality of drinking water from public supplies continues to be high, with 99.8% of samples compliant with microbiological standards and 99.7% compliant with chemical standards.
The number of public water supplies on the EPA’s Remedial Action List, which identifies “at-risk” supplies requiring improvement, decreased from 45 in 2024 to 35 in 2025. These supplies serve approximately 467,000 people.
However, the EPA said the number of boil water notices and water restriction notices increased during 2025, affecting almost 200,000 people.
Patrick Byrne, EPA Director of the Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring, said public drinking water quality remains high.
“People can be confident that the water supplied to their homes is safe to drink,” he said.
However, he said EPA audits and enforcement continue to identify supplies which cannot guarantee safe and secure drinking water.
“Uisce Éireann must allocate necessary resources to complete the required upgrades at ‘at-risk’ supplies to ensure drinking water remains safe and public health is protected into the future,” he said.
Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager, said it was worrying that almost 200,000 people were affected by water restrictions in 2025.
“While necessary to protect public health, they are a considerable inconvenience for consumers and point to a lack of resilience in water treatment,” he said.
The EPA report also highlights wider challenges, including leakage and the replacement of lead pipework. It said 36% of treated water is lost daily through leakage, while people continue to be at risk from exposure to lead in drinking water due to lead pipes.
