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Ireland’s Environment – An Assessment 2016
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in 2014, with the proportion of waste water receiving
little or no treatment reduced to under 5% in 2014 (EPA,
2015e). Nonetheless, further investment in infrastructure
is necessary in order to eliminate the discharge of raw
sewage, comply with the Urban Waste Water Treatment
Directive (91/271/EEC) and the Water Framework Directive
(2000/60/EC), and meet obligations of EPA waste water
discharge authorisations.
Domestic Waste Water Treatment
Systems
Household septic tanks can threaten public health and
water quality if they are poorly constructed or fail to
operate satisfactorily.
There are an estimated 500,000 domestic waste water
treatment systems (DWWTS), i.e. septic tanks and
treatment systems, in Ireland treating waste water from
houses not connected to a public sewer system. The
Water Services (Amendment) Act, 2012 was introduced to
control discharges from these systems by the registration
and inspection of septic tanks to ensure that they meet
certain standards. The legislation also required the EPA
to put in place a National Inspection Plan in conjunction
with the local authorities to reduce the potential threat to
human health and the environment.
DWWTS that are properly designed, installed and
maintained can provide long-term, effective treatment
of domestic waste water. However, DWWTS can
threaten public health and water quality if they are
poorly constructed or fail to operate satisfactorily; for
example, if the waste water cannot discharge through
the percolation area, it can form stagnant pools on the
ground surface. Through such failures, humans can
come in contact with the waste water and be exposed to
pathogens, e.g.
E. coli
bacteria and faecal coliforms, and
foul odour. Owners of DWWTS are required to operate
and maintain their systems so that they do not pose a risk
to human health or the environment.
The EPA Inspection Data Report for the period 1 January
to 31 December 2015 (EPA, in press), details the results of
1,097 first-time inspections. 33% of all systems inspected
also had a private well on site, of which 42% failed the
inspection.
The inspection findings show significant failure rates
for reasons that are related to the behaviour of the
householder rather than faults with the treatment
system. In many cases, simple actions are required by
the homeowners rather than structural changes to the
treatment system. The non-compliance rate decreased
from 53% in 2013 to 45% for the 2015 reporting period.
Bathing Water
Good-quality bathing water is a highly desirable
natural resource for recreational use as well as being
an important economic factor for tourism.
Our modern lifestyle presents continuing challenges to
bathing water quality, such as impacts of pollution from
urban runoff, waste water discharges and from agricultural
sources, especially after heavy rain, which are a continuing
threat, particularly in built-up areas. If beaches are closed
there are also knock-on effects for people’s behaviour
(i.e they don’t go to the beach) which then play out as
health effects (less exercise, increased anxiety).
There are 137 identified bathing areas in Ireland,
comprising 128 seawater and nine freshwater locations.
Overall, the quality of Ireland’s bathing waters remains
very high, with 93% meeting the minimum EU standards
and achieving at least “sufficient” water quality status
(EPA, 2016). In addition, 83% have met the “excellent” or
“good” standards. However, six bathing waters failed to
meet sufficient quality, which means they were required –
for health risk reasons – to have either an “Advice against
Bathing” or a “Bathing Prohibition” restriction in place
for the 2016 bathing season. Members of the public can
find out about bathing water quality on the EPA’s Splash
website
( www.bathingwater.ie), on bathing water notice
boards at the beaches or from the relevant local authorities.
At European level, Ireland is ranked 18th out of 30
countries and below the EU average in a comparison of
bathing water quality for 2015 (EEA, 2016b). Ireland is
also one of only four countries, along with the United
Kingdom, the Netherlands and Bulgaria, where more
than 3% of bathing water sites were of poor quality in
2015. Risks to bathing waters are one of the key criteria in
EPA enforcement led recommendations for prioritisation
of urban waste water treatment plant compliance and
remedial actions (EPA, 2015e).
As well as the 137 designated bathing sites, there are
73 other waters around the country which are being
monitored by local authorities because bathing is known
to take place there. Of these “other monitored waters”