Water quality (2024)

Drinking water issues

Your drinking water should be clear, colourless, with a normal smell with no unusual changes. If your water smells or looks different get help here.

Hard water

Check the water hardness levels in your area. Learn how to prevent and treat limescale.

Unusual taste or smell

Has the taste or smell of your tap water changed? Check these common causes.

Discoloured water

Find out what may be causing your tap water to look brown or discoloured.

Lead pipes

Check for lead pipes and find out about our lead pipe replacement scheme.

Check for local works

Works on the water mains in your area can cause short term water quality and supply issues. Check our Service and Supply map to see if there are works happening near you.

Is tap water safe to drink

Your water is safe to drink unless you see one of these notices from Uisce Éireann. Know what to do if you receive one.

Boil water notice

We issue this notice when harmful bacteria are found in a water supply. Boiling the water will make it safe to drink.

Contact time notice

We issue this notice if the chlorine used to disinfect drinking water has not had enough contact time to work.

Do not consume

We issue this notice when the water supply is contaminated, and you can't make it safe by boiling it.

How we test drinking water

When we take a water sample, we check it to see if it contains certain parameters.

Drinking water treatment

Your drinking water goes through a full treatment process before it reaches your tap.