THE NUMBER of beaches and lakes designated for swimming which failed to meet minimum EU water quality standards more than doubled last year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Last year was the worst for bathing water quality since records began in 1991, and was the first year that none of the State’s designated bathing lakes failed to meet the minimum standards.
Fingal in north Dublin had the worst-quality bathing water of any county in the State, with almost half of the total number of beaches which failed to meet the mandatory EU standards in its local authority area.
Nine of the State’s 131 beaches and lake shores which are designated by local authorities for bathing failed to meet clean-water standards last year compared to just four in 2007.
The beaches which failed in 2008 were: Balbriggan, Loughshinny, Malahide, Portrane (all in Dublin Fingal); Clifden (Galway); Ardmore (Waterford); Ballyallia Lake (Clare); Keeldra Lough (Leitrim); and Lilliput, Lough Ennel (Westmeath).
All of the nine had excess levels of faecal coliforms in the water. In most cases, the pollution was due to poor sewage treatment facilities or a breakdown in the sewage treatment infrastructure, the EPA said.
A further 20 bathing areas just met the minimum standards but failed to meet the higher “EU guide” values, which meant that faecal coliforms were present in the water but in a low enough volume to pass the test.
The remaining 102 beaches and swimming lakes did meet the EU guide standards, giving them “good water quality” status.
In its bathing water quality report, the EPA highlighted six beaches which persistently failed cleanliness tests between 2003 and 2008. The six – Balbriggan, Clifden, Ardmore, Malahide, Na Forbacha and Dunmore East – were “the poorest performers in terms of overall compliance with the bathing water standards” the EPA said. However it noted that Na Forbacha and Dunmore East improved last year.
Clifden and Balbriggan were “of particular concern”, it said. Clifden has failed to achieve sufficient water-quality status for four consecutive years, while Balbriggan achieved the minimum standard only once in the last six years.
However, the report did note that bathing water-quality standards were generally high. All of the beaches in five local authority areas achieved good water-quality status. These were: Donegal County Council, Galway City Council, Kerry County Council, Mayo County Council and Meath County Council.
Last summer’s poor weather, which resulted in overflowing drains and excess run-off from land during heavy rains, particularly in agricultural areas, contributed to last year’s poor results, the EPA said.
However, inadequate or malfunctioning sewerage infrastructure was the underlying cause, Dr Micheál Lehane of the EPA said.
“Adequate measures, including the provision of appropriate waste-water treatment facilities must be expedited insofar as possible for a number of bathing areas that are at risk of not meeting minimum bathing water standards.”
Fingal had upgraded its treatment plant at Balbriggan last year, which should result in an improvement in the bathing water standards in the county in next year’s report, Dr Lehane said.
Other counties had also begun or would soon begin waste infrastructure improvements, he said.
