'Third-world' water treatment plant dumped five swimming pools of raw sewage into river

Irish Water was fined €7,000 and agreed to pay costs

Brian Coffey, an inspector with the Environmental Protection Agency, said another plant downstream in Leixlip, which uses the River Liffey to supply drinking water, was not notified when the untreated wastewater spewed out from the Newhall Pumping Station. Photo: Collins Courts

A “Third-World” Irish Water treatment plant dumped raw sewage – enough to fill five Olympic swimming pools – into the River Liffey, a court has heard.

The untreated wastewater spewed out from the Newhall Pumping Station in Co. Kildare, when it repeatedly broke down in March 2019, Dublin District Court heard.