Cases of a severe form of E.coli have almost quadrupled among people drinking water supplied by private wells and springs in recent years.

Supplies serving rural crèches, schools, nursing homes, pubs, B&Bs, campsites and other small businesses pose the greatest threat, tests have found.

Some 1,122 cases of the dangerous VTEC strain of the E.coli bacteria were reported in 2018, compared to around 300 annually up to 2011. Ireland now has the highest incidence in the EU at 10 times the European average.

More than 40pc of those who contract VTEC need to be hospitalised and the illness, which is most serious in young children and elderly people, can cause kidney failure and death.

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E.coli contamination indicates animal waste in a well or spring, most likely from slurry spreading, faulty septic tanks or roaming livestock.

An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report says 62 small private water supplies were contaminated with E.coli in 2018 – about one in 20 of the supplies monitored.

The rate is similar for private group water schemes but the EPA notes that people drinking consistently from schemes with a low level of contamination may build up a resistance.

Customers passing through or using facilities served by contaminated private supplies less intensively, however, can become very ill. All public group water schemes tested were free of E.coli.

Dr Tom Ryan, EPA director of enforcement, said 16pc of small private supplies were not even being monitored.

“We are concerned about the poor quality of drinking water in private supplies serving commercial or public activities such as crèches, nursing homes and hotels,” he said.

“It is worrying that many of these supplies are not being monitored, as consuming contaminated water poses a serious health risk to consumers, particularly vulnerable people such as the young or elderly.”

Around one million people get their water privately from group schemes, small private supplies or household wells.

The EPA said it was concerned that not all private supplies were registered with their local authorities.

Not all have to be registered – for example a private well serving a single house is exempt – but the EPA said this was less than ideal. It estimates that 15pc-30pc of all household wells are contaminated by E.coli and that around two-thirds have some form of contamination.

“There is an unknown number of private supplies in the country that the local authority has no information about,” the report states.

“If the local authority doesn’t know about a supply, they can’t monitor it. These supplies are most likely to be small private supplies, that is, businesses that have the potential to cause a serious health risk to the public.”

The report also highlights the lack of State funding for private schemes and notes that only 15 local authorities carried out any audits on private supplies in 2018.

In some cases, local authorities issued boil water notices on private supplies and still did not carry out audits to find out the cause of the problem or consider enforcement.

The EPA said all private supplies needed regular testing.

“If you find that the quality of your drinking water is consistently poor and the work or cost of cleaning and maintaining your well or supply is too demanding, you may be able to connect to a group scheme or a public water supply,” it said.

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