To ask the Minister for Infrastructure whether per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances monitoring by NI Water considers sea spray or sea foam as a potential pathway for contamination in coastal public drinking water supplies.

NI Water’s underpinning approach to the protection of public health through clean safe drinking water is the World Health Organisation’s Drinking Water Safety Plan (DWSP) approach, which seeks to understand existing and emerging risks to drinking water supplies, from raw water in the environment, through drinking water treatment systems, the drinking water network and right through to the risks posed by customer taps, and ensuring that appropriate and effective control measures are in place.

The risk for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is included as a risk within NI Water’s DWSPs across all water supplies. The potential for atmospheric PFAS contamination deposition from sea spray and or sea foam aerosols, in coastal influenced drinking water catchment areas, is considered as a source risk in the overall risk assessment for PFAS contamination in coastal public drinking water supplies.