Is Irish tap water safe?

Ireland is a European country, and you would expect this would be a no brainer. When I first went on holiday to Ireland, I just assumed that I could drink the tap water. And it was only after we moved here and his colleagues were complaining about the water, that I even looked into it.

Does it make you sick?

Now to be fair, my father believed that he should harden our immune system. Because of that, I was exposed to a lot of germs early on. I can pretty much eat or drink anything without having any serious complaints. I once ate six completely grey sausages while pregnant and had a tiny bit of acid reflux for half an hour or so. So I didn’t notice anything while there, granted I also only drank tea and Guinness. So that might have something to do with that too. I didn’t get sick from Irish tap water, my husband on the other hand did have some stomach issues. We didn’t think much of it and hadn’t connected his stomach issues with the tap water. So if it’s only for a short while that you’re visiting and you have a good strong stomach I wouldn’t worry too much. However, if you have a more typical stomach, Irish tap water might not be for you.

Europe about Irish water

In May this year, Ireland got a serious threat from the European Commission about a possible court case. Because the tap water of 300.000 people in Ireland contained Trihalomethane. THM is linked to kidney, liver, and central nervous system diseases, but it also increases the risk of bladder and colon cancer. Trihalomethane is formed when chlorine and organic matter mix, so things like twigs and leaves in the water treatment plants. Irish Water is actively working to make sure less organic matter gets into the drinking water so that the THM won’t be formed. Because no one wants THM in their water, we all prefer our water pure and clean.

Water in the Dublin area

Dublin and the surrounding areas are supplied by 4 water treatment plants. One is in Ballymore Eustace, which supplies 55% of Dublin itself and is being upgraded. Two that have already been upgraded are in Ballyboden and Roundwood, and can you believe the one in Roundwood was build in 1923. The last water treatment plant is the one at Leixlip, it supplies 30% of the water to Dublin. It has a seriously bad reputation around here, it is luckily also being upgraded. And it was sorely needed too. The plant has repeatedly come under criticism in the media for boil water notices and foul tasting water.

Area that is supplied by the Leixlip water treatment plant.

Boil water notices

Like I told you, the water from the Leixlip water treatment plant is quite infamous. Within days of starting at his new office, my husband he already heard about the tap water quality. We figured they were just exaggerating a bit, we were after all still in Europe. But that autumn, we were hit with 2 boil water notices that both lasted for almost two weeks. And once that was over, we were still boiling our water before drinking it because there were constant rumors in the media about a third one. It had been over a month that I had started to boil our tap water before drinking it, and I was used to it now anyway.

Chlorine in tap water

Like I said, Irish water tends to clean the water with chlorine. I’m from the Netherlands, where most of our water never gets into contact with any chlorine, and the two companies that do use it use a safer version and less of it. So when I kept thinking of swimming pools while taking showers or drinking some water, I never thought that it might have been because of chlorine in my water. I never gave it a second thought, it was summer after all and therefore only natural that I would think of swimming. But it turns out that the Irish tap water actually has quite a lot of chlorine added to it, sometimes up to twice as much as is recommended.

Treating water with chlorine is an effective way of making sure that there aren’t any pathogens left in the water. And if I would have to choose between cholera in my tap water or chlorine in my tap water I prefer chlorine. But nowadays we have healthier ways of treating our drinking water, we can use ozone and UV-light which are environmentally sounder too. Luckily, Irish water and the Irish government are upgrading the water treatment plants and are planning on using these new and better methods of cleaning our water.

What about the lead

This winter, after one of my husband’s colleagues, found out that his property had dangerously high levels of lead in his tap water. We wondered if this would be a concern for our house as well. Luckily we soon found out that since our house was only built in the last 30 years it shouldn’t be a problem. That is because Ireland doesn’t use lead pipes for their mains water, meaning if the pipes are owned by Irish water it won’t be a lead one. But plenty of properties will still have lead pipes since it was only in the ’70s that they stopped using them when building new houses. A lot of houses in Ireland also have a separate water tank in their attic for most of their water uses, like the bathroom. Therefore Irish Water advises against drinking the water from your bathroom faucet. If you want to know if you have lead pipes Irish Water supplies some useful info.

Water filters or bottled water

One thing that you will notice about Ireland when you go into shops is that they sell lots of bottled water and quite a lot of different water filters too. Now that you know about the state of Irish tap water, it seems only reasonable that there are so many options to get healthier water. But what is the better way to go, do you invest in a good quality water filter or do you stick for the bottled water. Not all water filters are created equally, and you might want to do some research into which filter might be best for you. Some merely enhance the flavour of the water while others take away even the smallest viruses and even pesticides. After our whole boiled water debacle, we wanted a water filter that would ensure we never had to worry about our water again. So we went with the rather famous and trusted Berkey water filter.

But if you’re only visiting Ireland then by all means just buy some bottled water if you’re concerned about the water quality. However, if you plan on living on this little island then I wouldn’t advise buying bottled water. For starters, it takes twice as much water to make the bottle that the water that you drink is in. And then there is the problem with recycling your bottle, even if you recycle responsibly the plastic will still be made into a lesser quality plastic. Not to mention all the harmful chemicals that leach into your water when you use a plastic water bottle. So try to always use a reusable water bottle where possible.

Paying for water

For a long time, the Irish never had to pay for water. I tried to find out before moving here what our costs would be approximately, but I couldn’t find the cost for water anywhere. In the Netherlands, it’s normal that we pay for our water, not only for the treatment of our drinking water but also for the waterway infrastructure. The whole bit about not being swallowed by the sea is a rather important thing when you’re below sea level. If you want to learn more about how all of that works, let me know in the comments.

But the Irish only started sort of paying for their water since the start of 2020, at least that is according to the citizens’ information website. They now have started recording the water usage for households, only starting 2022 will they actually start paying if they exceed the limits. And that limit is set at 213,000 liters per year, that is almost twice as much as is the average water usage. So from my Dutch point of view, that is certainly not a bad deal.

So can you drink the Irish tap water?

Unless there is an active boil water notice and you don’t have a sensitive stomach it should be safe to drink. However, if you plan on staying in Ireland long term I would advise getting a water filter. Seeing as you won’t be under immediate threat from things like cholera and the like. But in the long term, the harmful effects of chlorine and maybe even lead will add up. If you do have a sensitive stomach or just don’t want to risk it and you’re only here for a holiday then just get yourself some bottled water.