Here's how water quality ranks at Ireland's beaches
Eamonn Photo: Advised Three Strand Swimmers To Beach, Are 'poor' Is Farrell/rollingnews Balbriggan, At Swim Front One Quality, To Bathing Water Ie Dublin Co File Have Not Found Beaches
The water quality at almost eight out of 10 bathing water sites at beaches and lakes around the country has been rated as ‘excellent’ by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in its latest annual report.
Overall, it found the quality of Ireland’s bathing water to be very high, with 97% of the 148 sites it monitors meeting or exceeding the minimum standards, but some localised issues remain.
Swimmers are advised not to swim at three beaches found to have 'poor' bathing water quality; Front Strand Beach, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, Lady’s Bay, Buncrana, Co. Donegal, and Trá na mBan, An Spidéal, Co. Galway. At these three sites, the EPA found different issues, including wastewater discharges, run-off from urban and agricultural lands as well as dog and other animal fouling playing a part.
The high percentage of bathing water sites rated as ‘excellent’ is attributed by the EPA to the ongoing management of sites by local authorities and investment in urban wastewater infrastructure in recent years.
“The ongoing improvement in our bathing waters is very welcome and shows that good management of our bathing areas can give a high level of health protection for swimmers and other water users,” said EPA director Dr Eimear Cotter.
“Year-round swimming continues to be popular and the EPA looks forward to the outcome of the work, led by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which is investigating how to protect bathers' health year-round.”
Unfortunately, there were no new bathing waters identified in 2022, she added.
“The EPA urges local authorities to designate more official bathing sites to protect swimmers’ health, which includes designating the large number of beaches and popular swimming spots that they monitor but which haven’t been formally identified as bathing waters.”
The 2022 annual report found that two bathing water sites have shown significant improvement from 'poor' to 'excellent' in recent years. These are Portrane, The Brook Beach in Fingal and Trá na bhForbacha, Na Forbacha, Galway.
In 2022, 34 bathing water pollution incidents resulting in beach closures were reported to the EPA, compared to 42 in 2021. According to the EPA, local authorities take a precautionary approach when managing incidents, meaning that not all incidents result in a deterioration in the bathing water quality.
“This approach is taken to protect bathers’ health.”
When heavy rainfall is forecast, many local authorities will put up a notice giving a ‘Prior warning’ of pollution events. In 2022, there were 186 ‘Prior warning’ notices, 82 more than 2021.
Seventy-seven of these warnings (41%) were reported during the last two weeks of the bathing season when there were very high levels of rainfall. The bathing season runs from June 1 to 15 September each year.
There are currently 148 identified bathing waters monitored and managed under the Bathing Water Regulations in Ireland. One bathing water was newly identified in 2021 (Aillebrack/Silverhill Beach Galway) and will be categorized after 2023 when the required number of samples for the assessment has been taken.
The public can suggest new bathing waters to local authorities for identification each year. Factors considered include water quality, the level of use, safety, access, and facilities. Further guidance is available on beaches.ie.