Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland Water
What to Watch For
Lead leaches into drinking water from old service pipes. Even low-level exposure is linked to developmental harm in children and cardiovascular issues in adults.
Decades-old pipe networks corrode and degrade, introducing trace metals, sediment, and bacteria into the water supply between treatment and your tap.
Untreated sewage is discharged into rivers and water sources during heavy rainfall. These overflow events introduce bacteria, viruses, and chemical pollutants upstream of treatment intake points.
Fertilisers, pesticides, and animal waste wash into water sources from farmland. Nitrate contamination is a persistent problem in agricultural regions.
Toxic algal blooms in source water increase organic load and treatment chemical use. During severe events, harmful toxins can challenge treatment capacity.
Nitrates from fertiliser runoff can exceed safe levels in groundwater-fed supplies. High nitrate intake is particularly dangerous for infants and pregnant women.
When chlorine reacts with natural organic matter in water, it creates by-products including trihalomethanes. Long-term exposure is associated with increased health risks.
Elevated chlorine levels used to disinfect water can cause an unpleasant taste and odour. Long-term exposure to chlorine by-products has been linked to increased health risks.
Tiny plastic particles found in treated water supplies pass through standard filtration. Research into long-term health effects is ongoing, but early findings raise concern.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — "forever chemicals" — persist in water indefinitely. Linked to thyroid disease, immune suppression, and increased cancer risk. Standard treatment does not remove them.
Trace amounts of medicines — from painkillers to hormones — have been detected in treated water supplies. Conventional treatment does not fully remove them.
Overview
Northern Ireland draws from Lough Neagh — the largest freshwater lake in the British Isles — and treats it heavily to compensate. Soft water, heavy treatment, old pipes. Your tap water tells the story.
Water Hardness
Northern Ireland water is soft — typically 30–120 ppm. Low mineral content, but soft water dissolves more from the pipes it travels through. Lead and copper absorption rates increase in softer supplies.
Common Contaminants
An estimated 25% of NI homes still have lead piping — 15% of tested Belfast samples exceeded UK limits. An estimated £3 billion infrastructure underinvestment backlog means more overflows per head than anywhere else in the UK. Lough Neagh's worst algal bloom since the 1970s was driven by agriculture contributing 75% of nitrate loading. PFAS, high chlorine dosing, disinfection by-products, and microplastics compound the challenge.
What Pluvia Removes
The lead from 25% of NI homes with old pipes, the algal toxins from Lough Neagh blooms, the high chlorine and its by-products, the nitrates from agricultural runoff, the PFAS and microplastics — Pluvia's RO membrane removes what a £3 billion infrastructure backlog cannot fix. UV-C sterilisation handles what heavy chlorine dosing struggles to eliminate.
Regional Notes
Lough Neagh supplies 40% of Northern Ireland's drinking water. In recent years, toxic algal blooms have raised urgent questions about treatment capacity — and what reaches households when the system is under strain.
Check Your Extended Report
Want the full picture? Northern Ireland Water publishes detailed water quality data for your exact postcode. Check their official report to see what's in your supply right now.
The information on this page is sourced from publicly available water quality reports published by Northern Ireland Water and independent testing data. We do not guarantee its accuracy or that it reflects current conditions. Your actual water quality may be better or worse than described here. For the most up-to-date results, check your supplier's official report above.
Your area has Lead pipes & Ageing infrastructure concerns — Pluvia removes them.
Every day without Pluvia is another day drinking unfiltered tap water. Switch once — save £4,500+ over 5 years.
or £100/mo for 12 months
Try it 30 days. Full refund if you're not convinced.