Packed with equipment for water treatment
The Irish water supply has been delivered by a number of large companies, including DuPont and Allied, in recent years.
A recent report in the journal Water & Power said that a total of 4,848 water treatment plants and 1,957 equipment are in use in Ireland.
The report said the Irish water system was highly efficient, and the equipment was designed to deal with large volumes of water, while minimising the use of water tanks.
It said: “As part of the National Water Framework, all water is treated on site, and in a cost-effective manner.”
However, the report found that in the years to 2020, the average amount of water treated per person in Ireland was only 1,700 litres, less than one-fifth of the EU average.
“The Irish water treatment system, however, is well suited to the demands of the new generation of consumers,” it said.
“We also know that water is one of the few things that can be used in an environmentally sustainable manner, and this can be achieved with a low cost of production, efficient equipment and low environmental impacts.”
The report’s authors said that Ireland’s infrastructure for water quality had improved over the past 10 years, but water quality was still not as good as it could be.
The authors also noted that Ireland is an important supplier of water for many countries in Europe.
“Ireland is the country with the most intensively tested drinking water infrastructure in the EU, and one of Europe’s top sources of water in the production phase,” they said.
The Irish Water Commission has also been involved in the debate on the quality of the Irish drinking water supply.
In a report released last year, the Commission said that while it recognised that the quality and quantity of water delivered was adequate for Ireland’s population, there was a “widespread belief” that it was not.
It concluded that while water quality in the country had improved, it was still below EU average levels and that “there is a risk that water quality could deteriorate further”.
The report noted that “unacceptable levels of contaminants” were present in the water supply, which were often associated with industrial and agriculture activities.
The Government has said it has been able to reduce the number of toxic substances in Irish water by using biodegradable materials in the treatment plants, which it claims will make the water safer to drink.
