The level of faeces in public and group water supplies in Ireland remains "unacceptable", according to a new report from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The latest study into drinking water quality in Ireland found 30 per cent of private-group water schemes and 20 per cent of public-water systems have had faeces contamination found in them.
The EPA also expressed concern that a number of public water supplies were "consistently in breach" over the levels of aluminium and nitrates recorded in their water.
However, the EPA noted there has been a decrease in the frequency of faeces-contaminated samples in public water supplies and group water supplies. The report found 96 per cent of tests on public water schemes showed the quality of drinking water was satisfactory, up 0.3 per cent on the previous year.
A greater number of public-water schemes came into line with faecal-related standards in 2001, with 97.2 per cent recorded as complying, compared with 96.7 per cent in 2000. Group water supplies also showed an improvement of nearly 4 per cent to 74.1 in 2001.
The EPA welcomed the improvements but added "compliance with the faecal coliforms standard was still poor in group water schemes, lagging far behind that of public-water supplies, and remains unacceptable".
The EPA reported 485 group water schemes and 184 public supplies had recorded the presence of faecal coliform contamination in 2001.
Some 146,000 tests on over 900 public water supplies and more than 1,500 group water schemes were done by the EPA for its latest report.
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