The intention of Drinking Water Source Protection Planning is to establish a basis for focusing resources within the local authority to protect the source and enable informed decision making regarding land use within the catchment.

Water is critical to all aspects of our lives.  It is important that we ensure there is a safe and reliable source of water for all our uses now and in the future.

Our drinking water comes from rivers, streams, borewells or underground aquifers located across the County and which can be interlinked and also can be fed from a wide catchment area and many different sources.

These drinking water sources are therefore at risk of contamination which can result in short term and\ or long term problems that are costly or even impossible to correct.

In order to make sure we have enough clean water for drinking and other uses, we need to protect sources by managing the influences on them.  Source protection is one of the most effective and efficient means of protecting the safety of our water supply.

South Tipperary County Council has used best practice to delineate zones where it is desirable to regulate or monitor threats to drinking water quality.  A three tier approach has been adopted, dividing each catchment area into three.  For drinking water extracted from rivers or streams

• Zone 1 is the area within 250 meters of the water intake. This is the area where impacts from contamination are likely to be immediate and certain. This area is also specified in GAP Regulations.  Coloured grey on the map.
• Zone 2  is an area 15 Kilometers  upstream from the intake and  0.5 Kilometers  each side of the river bank.  Coloured red on the map.

• Zone 3 This area comprises the remainder of the Catchment coloured yellow on the map.

For water extracted from borewells or aquifers

• Zone 1 is the area within 250 meters of the water intake. This is the area where impacts from contamination are likely to be immediate and certain. This area is also specified in GAP Regulations.  Coloured grey on the map.
• Zone 2 is the Inner Protection Area (SI) is designed to protect the source against the effects of human activities that may have an immediate effect on the source, in particular in relation to microbiological pollution.  Coloured red on the map, this may be a small area coverd by Zone 1.
• Zone 3 the Outer Protection Area (SO) covers the remainder of the zone of contribution (ZOC)of the groundwater source. It is defined as the area needed to support an abstraction from long-term groundwater recharge i.e. the proportion of effective rainfall that infiltrates to the water table.   Coloured yellow on the map.

Development within these zones will be controlled depending on risk.
Further information on the Councils policy on protecting drinking water and supply zones is available in South Tipperary County Council Drinking Water Source Protection Plan.

( 5,348 kbs) Drinking Water Source Protection Plan