A swim restriction has been imposed again at Lady’s Bay in Buncrana this summer due to poor water quality.
The beach is one of three Irish beaches where swimmers are warned to stay out of the water to protect their health.
Lady’s Bay at the front shore in Buncrana is impacted by the Buncrana wastewater treatment plant, combined stormwater overflows, and surface run-off, which are made worse by heavy rainfall.
The water was classed as ‘Poor’ both in 2021 and 2022.
One of the main sources of pollution affecting the bathing water is untreated waste water released occasionally from the town’s collecting system. Uisce Éireann have just begun a major upgrade of the collecting system to improve its performance and provide more storage to retain the extra wastewater collected during heavy rainfall, which in turn will help towards improving the bathing water quality.
The restriction was listed in EPA’s Bathing Water Quality in Ireland report for 2022 which shows that water quality at the majority of Ireland’s bathing waters meets or exceeds the appropriate standards. 79% of bathing sites have ‘Excellent’ water quality while 97% meet the minimum standard.
Throughout this summer, water quality information and details of any incidents affecting bathing waters will be displayed on the www.beaches.ie website.
