By Dan Walsh
Uisce Éireann is encouraging the public in Wexford to consider the environment and alternatives to pesticides when gardening, farming and maintaining sports grounds and in turn improve the quality of local drinking water for homes and businesses.
While there has been significant progress nationally in recent years in reducing the impact of pesticide use on drinking water sources, Uisce Éireann’s compliance expert Thomas Gibbons and Teagasc’s Mary Roache told WexfordLocal.com that the lessons already learned should apply to supplies right across the country.
“There were 48 pesticide exceedances in public drinking water supplies in Ireland in 2022 and these were detected as part of Uisce Éireann’s public water supply monitoring programme from a total of more than 35,000 samples. We all need to consider the vulnerability of our local drinking water supplies to pesticide contamination and the importance of these supplies to our homes and businesses,” said Mr Gibbons.
“While Uisce Éireann’s consultation with the HSE has concluded that the levels of pesticides being detected in water supplies do not represent a threat to public health, they are still however undesirable in drinking water and it is therefore imperative that users of pesticides are mindful of best practice when using herbicides or pesticides and seek out alternatives,” explained Thomas Gibbons.
Teagasc’s Mary Roache’s said awareness is key to keeping our water supplies safe. “Some farmers and contractors may not have been aware that a tiny amount of pesticide spray in the water can be easily detected as far as 30km downstream and cause a breach of the limits.
“When I visit farmers the first question I ask is ‘do you need to use pesticide spray at all?’. My job is to make farmers think about what they are doing, why they are doing it and if there is an alternative. The advice given is individual to every farmer and completely confidential. Sometimes a small change in behaviour is all that is required. If they are still set on spraying their land, then I go through current regulations and the best practices with them so they can help protect water quality,” concluded Ms. Roache.
WexfordLocal.com 