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Ireland’s Environment 2012
54
Tackling Point Source Pollution
In some respects, point source
pollution is easier to resolve than
that from diffuse sources, because
the location and pollutant load can
be identified. In many cases, the
large point sources of pollution will
require investment and infrastructure
upgrades, as indicated in the EPA’s
regular reports on urban waste
water treatment. A key finding of
the EPA’s most recent assessment on
urban waste water treatment plants
(Monaghan et al., 2012) shows that
discharges from 57 waste water
works are causing pollution in rivers
or bathing waters. The other main
findings of this assessment are that:
n
93% of urban waste water
discharges in Ireland received
secondary treatment or higher
(Figure 4.9)
n
11 large urban areas do not meet
the Urban Waste Water Treatment
Directive (UWWTD) requirement
to have secondary treatment in
place. These include, for example,
Bray and Ringaskiddy, where the
provision of treatment is now 10
years overdue; Clifden, where the
old plant is impacting on bathing
water; and Moville, where
discharges are causing serious
pollution to the River Bredagh
n
Eight urban areas do not meet
the UWWTD requirement to
provide nutrient reduction in
addition to secondary treatment
for discharges to sensitive water
areas by specified dates. These
areas include the cities of Dublin,
Cork and Kilkenny
n
46% of waste water treatment
plants did not meet all waste
water quality standards or EPA
guidelines.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes
since the publication of the last State
of the Environment Report in 2008
was the introduction of a formal
licensing system for municipal waste
water treatment plants. The EPA is
responsible for licensing waste water
treatment plants for large towns,
and for certification of treatment
plants for smaller agglomerations.
The EPA had granted 190 licences
and 512 certificates by the end
of 2011. Compliance with these
licences and certificates will continue
to drive improvements in waste
water treatment and water quality
in Ireland.
The EPA also regulates the discharges
from many larger enterprises in
Ireland through the Integrated
Pollution Prevention and Control
licensing regime. This has been partly
responsible for the decline in the
number of seriously polluted water
bodies since 1993.
Elimination of Serious Pollution
The extent of serious pollution of rivers has been reduced
significantly in recent years due to increased enforcement as
part of a national programme coordinated by the EPA – the
‘Red Dot programme’. In 2004–2006, 39 sites were categorised
as seriously polluted, in 2007–2009 this had dropped to 20
sites and in 2011 there was a further significant reduction to 11
sites. Currently, approximately 18 km of river channel remains
seriously polluted from a total length of 13,200 km surveyed
under the WFD.