EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 14: Environment, Health and Wellbeing from smaller coastal towns and villages. This is a reduction from 43 towns and villages discharging raw sewage when the EPA published Ireland’s Environment: An Assessment 2016 . The discharged raw sewage can contain harmful bacteria and viruses and pose a health risk to people who come into contact with it. It also threatens aquatic ecosystems and the amenity value of our waters. The issue of nuisance odours is one about which the EPA frequently receives complaints regarding certain licensed sites, including wastewater works. Odour nuisance can negatively affect human health and wellbeing, particularly if people are exposed for extended periods (EPA, 2019). Almost half of the complaints received by the EPA annually about wastewater works relate to odour. Domestic Wastewater Treatment Systems Poorly designed, installed and maintained domestic wastewater treatment systems are a risk to public health. In Ireland, there are an estimated 500,000 domestic wastewater treatment systems (DWWTS), i.e. septic tanks and more advanced packaged/filter treatment systems, treating wastewater from houses not connected to a public sewerage system. 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. DWWTS that are properly designed, installed and maintained can provide long-term, effective treatment of domestic wastewater. However, DWWTS can result in reduced water quality and threaten public health if they are poorly constructed or not operated satisfactorily. The Domestic Waste Water Treatment Systems Inspections and Enforcement 2019 report (EPA, 2020c) details the findings of 1160 local authority inspections carried out in 2019. Nearly half (580) of the systems inspected did not meet the necessary standards, which is consistent with previous years’ findings. The local authorities identified more serious issues with nearly 300 systems, which were found to be a risk to human health or the environment. Twenty-seven per cent of systems that failed in report years 2013-2019 had yet to be fixed in mid-2020. Failures are due to construction defects and householders not maintaining/cleaning out (desludging) systems. There is further information for householders on the EPA’s website about how to check a DWWTS and take action if it is defective. The government’s recently expanded septic tank grant scheme broadens the availability of grants and increases the amount of the maximum grant available to €5000. Bathing Water While nearly three-quarters of Ireland’s bathing waters are classified as excellent, some urban beaches are under pressure, and Ireland ranks well below the EU average for excellent bathing water quality. There are 147 bathing waters identified in Ireland under the Bathing Water Regulations: 138 on the coast and nine inland (Figure 14.4). Overall, the quality of bathing waters in Ireland improved in 2019, with 95 per cent of sites (140 of 147) meeting or exceeding the minimum required standard: this is up from 94 per cent in 2018 (EPA, 2020d). The 2019 results show that 107 (73%) were classified as ‘excellent’, up from 103 in 2018; 24 (16%) were classified as ‘good’, up from 22 in 2018; and nine (6%) were classified as ‘sufficient’, down from 12 in 2018. As in 2018, the water quality at five beaches was classified as ‘poor’. They were Merrion Strand, Dublin; Portrane (the Brook) Beach, Dublin; Ballyloughane Beach, Galway; Clifden Beach, Galway; and Lilliput, Lough Ennell, Westmeath. When a bathing water is classified as poor, it means that there is a risk of periodic pollution, with the potential to cause illness such as stomach upset, skin rash and infections of the ear, nose and throat. Merrion Strand had been classified as ‘poor’ for 5 years in a row, meaning that this strand was declassified as a bathing water in 2020. Three new bathing water sites, all in Dublin, were classified for the first time in 2019. They were the Forty Foot Bathing Place (classified as ‘excellent’); White Rock Beach (classified as ‘excellent’); and Sandycove Beach (classified as ‘good’). Two additional beaches, Inchydoney East Beach, Cork, and Cúas Crom, Kerry, were added to the national bathing waters list in 2019 and will be classified following the 2020 bathing season. The EPA bathing water quality report for 2019 (EPA, 2020d) notes that, in the case of 50 bathing water pollution incidents notified to the EPA in 2019, 54 per cent were linked to urban wastewater (sewage treatment) discharges, 18 per cent were linked to agricultural run-off and 12 per cent were linked to septic tank discharges. 361