How to ensure your well's drinking water is safe

It will provide individual advice. The structure of an unfamiliar well should always be checked by a specialist before the water is used. Firms drilling wells are guided by the EPA or IGI (Institute of Geologists of Ireland) guidelines for drilling wells and installing casings, well heads and pumps for private water suppliers.

Using your own water source whether individually or as part of a small group scheme, places important responsibilities back on you. Despite the well-publicised problems with areas of our national water supply (Uisce Eireann), mains water is monitored closely for quality by local authorities and Uisce Eireann, including regular testing of local supplies for biological and chemical hazards (including occasional high chlorine warnings). 

They work off what is termed “exceedance” for various hazards including bacteria and protozoa, chemicals, metals and other substances that can cause health problems immediately and over longer periods of ingestion.

When you have a private well, this work falls back on you. The EPA suggests yearly testing for private wells. This ensures that the safety of the water is maintained through the ebbs and flows of weather events and local farming and commercial activities. These changes or damage to your well system might lead to a change in the quality of the drinking water that ends up coming through your taps. 

The EPA advises, “720,000 or almost two out of every 10 people in Ireland get their water from a private supply. Many people assume that their private well water is safe to drink and don’t treat it or get it tested. They shouldn’t because a recent study found that E. coli, which can cause serious illness, is present in almost a third (29%) of Irish private wells”. The VTEC strains of E coli are notorious and can cause very serious illness in vulnerable groups especially.

The best time to test your water is after heavy rain (no problem finding a time then). It’s crucial to use the skills of a laboratory rather than a home test kit (litmus papers with self-analysed results). 

You can find a list of labs at protectyourwell.ie. 

If you’re expecting to go for a grant for remedial work, the staff at the lab will take the test on-site. If you just want a general test for biological and chemical readings on the well, you can take it yourself.

 You’ll be instructed exactly what to do with a kit posted to your home, and a return package to send back to the lab. Expect to pay about €50-€60 for individual tests and €110-€130 for the double test covering biological and chemical results. This will be an annual expense for a diligent well owner. You may be advised to “shock” the well with an application of two to three bottles of sterilising fluid like Milton and to then retest. Talk to a local specialist. If you’re concerned that your well water is making you seriously unwell, your local HSE Environmental Health Officer can provide advice.

There are valuable supports for anyone drilling a new well, renovating an old well, or improving the quality of their water following a test that shows it needs filtering or treatment. 

This only applies to homes over seven years old, as you would have been expected to use proper planning for a recent well. In some cases, the location of the well, say too near to a slurry storage tank, a septic tank or at the base of a slope, may create the need to re-site the well completely (€6,000-€10,000). Otherwise, you’re looking at moving the source of the contamination, which may not be cost-optimal. 

The only alternative is to link up with the nearest group water supply or to try to get mains water to the property. Your local authority will be able to discuss options with you.

So, what are the costs for fixes and grant aid for improving your supply to drinking water regulations? There is financial help, administered by housing authorities on behalf of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Contact the rural water section in your local authority for the application form and further information (this can start online). 

Don’t jump the gun and start work before you have grant approval in place. Your local housing authority will have to establish the works required to release the grant money. Any claim for grant aid must be accompanied by receipts from each contractor engaged for the job. Receipts must include details of the works carried out and the associated costs. The grants are retroactive, so budget for the improvements in total yourself.

Starting low, with treatment to water that’s not flat good enough to drink, or that might be stained by local geology, or weird to taste. Installing a system to treat and filter this water will cost €600-€3,000. The follow-up annual cost will start at around €260 depending on the complexity and demands put on the system. Your installer will go over the figures with you before work starts. 

Water quality treatment element (typically filtration and ultraviolet treatment) qualifies for 100% funding up to a maximum of €1,000 (the minimum is €750, so don’t claim if your fixes cost less than this figure). This can be claimed on its own or in addition to either the grant for rehabilitation works or the grant for a new well. 

Where the well itself is at fault (this could be that there’s insufficient water in the existing well), there are grants for rehabilitation works up to 85% of approved costs subject to a maximum of €3,000. The grant payable for the provision of a new well is 85% of approved costs subject to a maximum of €5,000 euro, where the housing authority agrees that this is the most appropriate solution.