The State’s environmental watchdog has expressed concern at the findings of an audit of a water treatment plant in Co Meath which revealed a catalogue of failings and inadequate oversight of its operation earlier this year.

An inspection of the plant which provides drinking water supplies to residents in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath, and is operated by Uisce Éireann, found safety alarms and automatic shutdowns designed to stop inadequately treated water reaching customers’ taps had been disabled since the end of January 2026.

Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also discovered during the inspection on May 6, 2026, that chlorine dosing of water supplies had also stopped at the end of January.

An audit report revealed that monitoring equipment and associated trend data at the Dunshaughlin facility were also unreliable and unrepresentative of actual water quality.

The EPA found there had been numerous incidents already this year, where levels of iron and discolouration of the water were above recommended safety limits.

They included 28 occasions between January 5 and June 22 when high concentrations of iron were recorded including a peak of 993 micrograms per litre – almost five times the recommended limit of 200ug/l – on May 18.

There were five occasions when the levels of iron exceeding recommended safety limits were found in treated water.

The water treatment plant in Dunshaughlin provides drinking water supplies to a population of 8,800 people.

The EPA said the cause of the failures had not yet been identified, although it is suspected they are due to cast-iron mains in the network, high raw-water iron levels and possible sediment build-up.

The watchdog said the audit of the plant identified that some of the six boreholes used for sourcing water at the Dunshaughlin plant had higher levels of iron than others.

In addition, it noted there had been seven occasions between April 2 and May 25 when there were issues with discolouration of the water for which Uisce Éireann had been separately notified by “complaint clusters”.

The EPA found the incidents had not been appropriately investigated and escalated for action.

The audit report also revealed that a power failure at the plant on April 12 had resulted in a spike in turbidity (cloudiness) lasting approximately 18 hours.

The level of turbidity peaked at almost five times the recommended limit.

However, Uisce Éireann said the turbidity readings were not representative of the water quality after it established that a 30-metre sample line feeding the turbidity monitor was filled with sediment.

While the incident was escalated locally, the EPA said it was not raised with Uisce Éireann’s compliance team or the HSE.

It revealed the HSE was only alerted after the Uisce Éireann compliance team visited the plant on May 1 when turbidity levels were marginally but persistently above the recommended level.

Problems with chlorine dosing were also uncovered on the day of the audit itself which resulted in untreated water entering the supply network for six hours while work was being carried out on changing the dosing method.

Following consultation between Uisce Éireann and the HSE it was decided that there was no immediate risk to human health and no requirement for a notice or water restriction.

The EPA said that following the audit it was notified by Uisce Éireann that the issues were escalated for urgent resolution and that a task force had also been set up, while additional upgrades for the plant were also being planned.

The EPA directed Uisce Éireann to submit a report on the actions taken and planned to address 12 recommendations contained in its audit report.

They included that the utility ensure sufficient management oversight of operations at the Dunshaughlin plant to prevent inadequately treated water entering the supply.

The EPA noted that the issues highlighted in the audit report had occurred during a period of significant staff turnover at the Dunshaughlin plant and at supervisory levels.

Uisce Éireann said it was now carrying out daily checks at the plant as well as supplementary investigative lab testing for a month.