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Quality of bathing water remains high

Thursday, 22 May 2008

The quality of water at both beaches assessed in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown meet EU bathing water quality standards, according to findings by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released last week.
Both Seapoint and Killiney beaches were found to have met the standards according to the study entitled ‘The Quality of Bathing Water in Ireland – A Report for the Year 2007’.
However, six seaside and freshwater locations in North Dublin did not meet EU bathing water quality standards, according to the findings.
The study of the standard of Ireland’s bathing waters found that overall quality remains high, with 97 per cent of designated bathing sites meeting mandatory standards as set down by the EU.
However, some seven bathing spots within the Dublin City and Fingal County Council areas did not satisfy the criteria.
The beaches that did not meet the European standards on the Northside include: Donabate, Malahide, Portmarnock, Skerries, Sutton Burrow Beach and Lough-shinny.
Merrion Strand was the only bathing place on the Southside not to meet the standards.
All of the designated bathing areas within Dún Laoghaire Rathdown complied fully with the EU guide and mandatory standards as did beaches in Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Mayo and Westmeath.
Last summer, An Taisce removed Blue Flag status from Seapoint Beach. It was at first rumoured that there had been a discharge of effluent into the bathing water following a leak at the water treatment plant there.
However, after locals had noticed a disagreeable smell from the water, both Dublin City and Dún Laoghaire Rathdown councils said the smell was a consequence of the decomposition of naturally occurring algae in the water.
According to Victor Boyhan, who is a member of An Taisce, a decision on whether to restore the Blue Flag to Seapoint Beach will be made soon.
“It is my hope that the An Taisce would restore the highly coveted Blue Flag award to Seapoint. He said: “however, the final decision is a matter for the independent jury to decide, based on international standards and best practice, which governs the Blue Flag," he said.
The EPA report found that while compliance with the minimum EU Mandatory Standards around the country remained the same as in 2006, there was, however, a decrease in the number of bathing areas complying with the stricter EU guide values.
This was due, in general, to the higher than usual rainfall that occurred during the 2007 bathing season, which would have the effect of, among other things, causing increased discharges that would impact on bathing areas.
Dr Michéal Lehane, programme manager, EPA said: “While the overall level of bathing water quality remains good, the EPA is concerned that a small number of bathing areas are consistently failing to meet the minimum mandatory standards.
“Adequate measures including the provision of appropriate waste water treatment facilities at these bathing areas are required if they are to comply with current EU standards. These are set to become more stringent with the implementation of the new bathing water directive in the coming years”.
A total of 131 designated bathing areas - comprising 122 seawater and nine freshwater - were monitored throughout the 2007 bathing season.
The key findings from this assessment show that 127 of the 131 bathing areas (97 per cent) complied with the mandatory standards, which is the same as 2006.
Some 105 of the 131 (80 per cent) bathing areas complied with the much stricter EU guideline standards. Only 118 sites complied with these standards in 2006.
The findings of the report along with a map of the quality of Ireland’s bathing water, are now available on the EPA website at: www.epa.ie/downloads/pubs/water/bathing

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