Summer rain sees bathing water quality suffer

Bathing spots around the country were hit by the worst water quality on record during last year’s washed out summer, a new report revealed today.

Nine popular swimming sites were given a poor rating, the highest ever, with all showing signs of coliforms – the bacteria found in human and animal waste.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) report said heavy rain and run-off flooded treatment plants causing sewage overflows and most of the pollution.

The EPA’s Dr Micheal Lehane said Ireland still had high quality bathing areas but accepted the fall in standards last year was disappointing.

“Poor weather conditions experienced during the 2008 summer would have been a contributory factor,” he said.

“Nevertheless, there are underlying issues at the majority of these particular sites, and problems may recur unless all necessary actions are implemented.”

A total of 131 designated bathing areas, 122 seawater and nine freshwater, were tested by health chiefs who found standards dropped by 4% between 2007 and 2008.

Six of the poor bathing sites are seawater at Balbriggan, Loughshinny, Malahide and Portrane, all in north Dublin; along with Clifden, Galway; and Ardmore, Waterford.

The other three are freshwater sites at Ballyallia Lake, Clare; Keeldra Lough, Leitrim and Lilliput, Lough Ennell, Westmeath.

Dr Lehane said waste water and sewage plants had to be modernised, councils have to make sure drainage systems can cope with a repeat of the heavy summer rain and ensure good farming practices will reduce pollution risk from run-off.

The EPA said it is the fourth year in a row Clifden has failed to clean up while Balbriggan has only achieved a sufficient standard once in the last six years.

The EPA report warned new EU directives could see total bans on bathing in these sites unless they improve over five years.

Seapoint near Dun Laoghaire, which exceeded blue flag pollution limits several times last summer due to sewage overflow, was not one of the poor named sites.

Only five areas earned good reports for all bathing spots – Donegal, Galway city, Kerry, Mayo and Meath.

The EPA report said Ireland was hit by a series of low pressure Atlantic systems last summer bringing heavy rain which caused high run-off from farms, fields and built-up areas.

The increased water in drains and sewers triggered overflows in most collecting systems with rainwater flowing into sewers as wastewater and so greatly increasing its volume.