One major and 15 out of 19 significant events that threatened drinking water safety last year related to NI Water treatment plants.
In its latest report on water quality, the Drinking Water Inspectorate also revealed we are not meeting the required health-based standards in 15 out of the 43 parameters measured.
They include lead, total trihalomethanes, odour, nickel, iron, taste, clostridium perfringens, aluminium, coliform bacteria, enterococci, manganese, turbidity, hydrogen ion (pH), E.coli and other pesticides.
NI Water is a government owned company with sole responsibility for supplying safe drinking water to NI homes, hospitals, schools and more.
It must take a specified number of samples from customer taps, private supplies and water treatment plants which the DWI then checks for compliance, before reporting back to Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.
Pollutant levels in all its water samples should be 100% in line with regulations. Compliance for the mains water supply in 2021 was 99.88%, with DAERA saying water quality "remains high".
Lead, which poses NI’s biggest problem, met drinking water standards in 98.08% of the tests taken.
The DWI revealed in its 26th report lead had the lowest compliance across all samples taken and remains an issue in properties built before 1970.
Last year, NI Water did 95,661 water tests with 111 found to have contravened regulatory standards compared to 59 out of 91,581 in 2020. It was also 524 individual tests short of the number needed from household taps but the DWI said it was an improvement on 2020, when Covid was in full swing.
Customer complaints about water quality also rose 21.9% last year, from 5,993 in 2020 to 7,305.
While just 71% of the private water supplies tested against regulations fully complied.
A DWI spokesperson said at the end of their report: “The effects of human activity on the environment and the fresh water sources that are abstracted to produce our drinking water are becoming more evident.
“We are committed to collaborating with all stakeholders in the development and implementation of policies and strategies to secure the future of a high quality, safe and sustainable supply of drinking water for all of Northern Ireland for future generations.”
Environment Minister Edwin Poots MLA, said: “I am pleased to endorse the Drinking Water Inspectorate’s annual report on Drinking Water Quality in Northern Ireland. The quality of our drinking water remains high which is vital for Public Health, the hospitality sector, farming and the economy.”
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