Drinking Water

Irish Water taking 20 years longer than expected to replace dangerous lead pipes - EPA

However, the regulator said water in the public system is safe

New EU rules will lower lead limits in drinking water. Picture: Getty

Irish Water is making unacceptably slow progress on replacing lead pipes, the Environmental protection agency (EPA) has said.

The environmental watchdog said in a new report that overall compliance with “microbiological and chemical” standards for drinking water is extremely high, at 99.7 per cent, meaning almost all water in the public system is safe to drink.

However, the EPA said drinking water treatment is not as “resilient” as it should be to ensure this remains ...