Human waste in harbour prompts complaints

Human waste visible in the waters around Cork harbour during the recent good weather has prompted a number of complaints to the Port of Cork[ and Cork County Council from sailors and beach-goers.

Every day, up to 22 pipes are pumping untreated waste water from up to 50,000 people into the harbour waters.

Cork County Council has confirmed that during the hot weather of recent weeks, the amount of waste being pumped into the sea was more concentrated than normal due to the “reduced amount of surface water”.

It’s understood that complaints were made to the Port of Cork by harbour- based sailing schools and by recreational sailors who were shocked at the “brown scum” and “floating objects” visible in the water around Cobh and Roches Point and on boats last month.

According to Captain Michael McCarthy, commercial manager with the Port of Cork, it’s likely that the discharged waste was “more visible as the water was so calm during the recent hot spell”.

A Cork County Council spokesman yesterday said the discharge volumes are not a matter of concern as the “volume of the harbour itself is estimated as 642,000,000 metres cubed, so the discharge, at 7,500 metres cubed, is approximately 0.001% of the overall volume”.

The water quality of designated bathing waters is monitored during the summer months but, as the Lower Harbour is not a designated area, there is no monitoring programme in place, according to the local authority.

It confirmed that:

- Waste water from the seaside village of Crosshaven is pumped to Carrigaline and waste from both towns is discharged into the sea through a pipe that runs from Ringaskiddy to the Dog Nose Bank;

- Waste water from Ringaskiddy is pumped out to sea from a single outfall at the port;

- Waste from Passage West, Glenbrook and Monkstown is disposed via another three pipes in the harbour, while waste from Cobh is discharged through another 16 pipes and overflows;

- Waste from Whitegate, Aghada, Rostellan and Farsid is sent to sea via another three pipes.

A spokesman for the local authority said Cobh, Passage West, Glenbrook, Monkstown, Ringaskiddy and Carrigaline/Crosshaven, are included in the planned new Cork Lower Harbour Main Drainage Scheme.

Consultants have been appointed for the detailed design, tender, construction and hand-over stages of the waste water treatment scheme.