If our tap water is not safe to drink surely we all need to know immediately

‘Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink’ is a line from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner written in the 1800s about sailors at sea and it sums up Tipperary in 2023.

While Met Éireann reports that it has been the wettest July ever recorded, we have empty taps and Boil Water Notices for many Tipperary people. A Boil Water Notice tells you that it is not safe to drink the water from your tap.

According to Uisce Eireann, you must boil and cool it before you drink it as there may be harmful bacteria or pathogens in water samples and so the HSE determines that there is a risk to public health. Week-after-week the water from the tap has been undrinkable in Tipperary.

It is a significantly challenging and embarrassing situation for Tipperary people and businesses hosting visitors from other countries as the locals try to explain that Ireland is a developed country, when the reality in front of their eyes is that animals in fields and people in houses, nursing homes, restaurants and even the local fire service were all without water over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The poor water service is a problem; and so too is the lack of communication. Although the current situation appears to be avoidable given that they are related to strike actions; it is inevitable that systems fail from time to time.

Water outages can happen, and as inconvenient as they are, they can be manageable if we have all the information we need, when we need it. Knowledge is power, as they say.

But as it stands, many who are in areas with water issues are unaware of them for hours or days, which opens the possibility of illness and secondary disease. Surely a text message alert system to residents of an area could be put in place?

That would begin the process of communication. This summer, one would need to log on to water.ie several times a day to find out what the current state of our tap water is. Sure, local newspapers and radio have a part to play, and some people follow local politicians on Facebook for this type of information. But is that really the best way to communicate?

Currently, Uisce Éireann will directly contact those who are registered vulnerable customers if a Boil Water Notice is put in place. But if our tap water is not safe to drink, surely we all need to know, immediately. If some can get a notification, why can’t all?