200,000 Irish Homes Could be at Risk of Lead Contamination in their Water Supply
Tuesday, June 9th, 2015
A Government strategy to deal with lead contamination in the water supply of up to 200,000 Irish households is expected to be agreed at today’s Cabinet meeting.
Irish Water said any building that pre-dates 1970 has a good chance of being affected.
Lead Contamination
It is reported the heavy metal element has already been detected in the pipes leading to 75,000 homes, or 5% of the total around the country.
The problem is being described as a “public health risk”, and will see a new grant rolled out for some low-income households to fund repairs.
The harmful metal is particularly dangerous to young children and pregnant women, so pipes in aging school and hospital buildings are also of concern.
This could result in the presence of lead in the drinking water. Householders could be facing bills worth thousands of euro to replace lead water pipes in their homes.
Irish Water says this is the first step in engagement with approximately 26,000 customers identified as potentially having lead pipes in their properties.
Irish Water says houses built up to and including the 1970s could have lead pipes, and there are a number of measures people can take to eliminate or limit the amount of lead in the drinking water.
It is expected the government will consider a National Lead in Water Mitigation Strategy later today.
Irish Water has this advice for homeowners:
- Check your plumbing for lead
- Read the HSE Lead in Drinking Water FAQs available at www.hse.ie/water
- If you choose to replace your lead pipes within your property, Irish Water will replace the public connection if it is made of lead
- If you are renting, pass this information on to the property owner
- If you are the owner and are renting or selling this property, pass this information on to the new occupants
The company says if people are unsure, they can contact Irish Water on 1890-278-278, or 01-707-2828.
Some 1.35 million people will begin paying for their water from October 1, less than two weeks’ time.
Fianna Fail environment spokesman Barry Cowen said that anyone at risk of contamination should not have to pay for their water. “This is all part of the audit that should have been done to classify all the network across the country and grade it accordingly, and only allow people to be charged after the problems are fixed,” he said.
“There should no charge for households with lead pipes to such an extent that they pose a risk of contamination.”
Homeowners are responsible for maintaining internal pipes on their property, including replacing lead pipes from the main stopcock to the house. Irish Water is responsible for the connection between the mains and the stopcock.
The Department of the Environment said no grants were available for private homeowners to carry out the works, and none were being considered.
Irish Water is also examining if the water can be treated to reduce the amount of lead being absorbed into household water supplies, as currently happens in Dublin since the 1980s.
In many cases, the problem is the internal plumbing in pipes on private property. Public pipes, including those in backyards, would be replaced, but it would take up to 10 years to identify and rectify the problem.
“It’s high levels of exposure over time which are of concern. There is no lead in the major mains or distribution network, and the problem is in the tens of kilometres. We’re working with the HSE and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to manage the risk without scaring people,” a spokeswoman said.
A householder can check if they have lead pipes by examining the pipes under a sink to see if they are a dull grey colour and mark easily when pressed by a knife.
Share this post:
on Facebook
Deprecated: File Theme without comments.php is
deprecated since version 3.0.0 with no alternative available. Please include a comments.php template in your theme. in
/var/www/vhosts/dewarplumbers.ie/httpdocs/wp-includes/functions.php on line
6085
