Group Water Supply Schemes

Group Water Supply Schemes

Preliminary source protection  areas around group schemes

Investigating complex groundwater systems

​Some Group Water Schemes take their water supplies from springs or boreholes fed by groundwater that flows through karstified limestone aquifers. Groundwater flows in karst are complex and unpredictable. Dye tracing was conducted during 2015 and 2016 in the Rathcroghan Uplands to assist protection of groundwater supplies in this area.

Septic tank desludging initiative

​Communities relying on group water schemes for drinking water are often located in rural areas.  As such, they often do not have access to a public sewerage network either and must use on-site wastewater treatment systems (OSWTS) or septic tanks, as they are commonly called. See link below to the Water News Magazine, see page 4 for the article on "Managing OSWTS for drinking water source protection".