Groundwater sources, particularly public, group scheme and industrial supplies, are of critical importance in many regions. Source protection zones (SPZs) provide protection by placing tighter controls on activities within all or part of the zone of contribution of the source, in order to protect water supplies against microbial or chemical contamination.
Geological Survey Ireland has a long history of working with Local Authorities (and, latterly, Irish Water) in assessing their groundwater supply sources and determining the source protection areas around the drinking water boreholes, springs and dug wells.
Find out more about source protection of public water supplies from the published Source Protection Reports.