The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned the equivalent of three Olympic-size swimming pools of untreated raw sewage are flowing into Ireland’s water systems every day because of a lack of water treatment plants.
They raised these and other concerns in a detailed report released today which has criticised Uisce Éireann.
In its Urban Waste Water Treatment report for 2022, the EPA said over half of Ireland’s wastewater discharges are not meeting EU standards to protect the environment.
In Donegal, there were seven areas recorded discharging raw sewage because their public sewers were not connected to treatment plants.
These were Burtonport, Coolatee, Falcarragh, Kerrykeel, Moville, Ramelton and Rathmullan.
The report also said while Uisce Éireann has promised that the Donegal towns and villages “will have [water] treatment [plants] in place by the end of 2025”, all areas will not be addressed until “the end of 2028”.
The report states that raw sewage poses an unacceptable risk to the environment and public health and recommends the areas “must be connected to treatment as soon as possible”.
“It will take substantial and sustained investment over the next two decades to bring all deficient treatment systems up to standard, and also provide for future needs,” it says.
On Uisce Éireann, it says the body “should have a long-term plan for this work”, but that it “does not have clear plans to prevent pollution at some of the most significantly impacted water bodies”.
The EPA says Uisce Éireann does not currently have enough information about discharges of wastewater from storm overflow systems. The organisation called on Uisce Éireann to build a “comprehensive picture” on the use of the system.
In a statement accompanying the report’s publication, EPA director Dr Tom Ryan said it was concerning that 30 years after Ireland was due to comply with EU environmental protection standards, less than half of wastewater is treated to these standards.
“While it is encouraging to see continued progress in stopping the unacceptable practice of discharging raw sewage into our environment, wastewater remains a significant pressure on Ireland’s waterways and is adversely impacting water quality.
“Uisce Éireann must take the opportunity of its new investment plan for 2025 to 2029 to deliver wastewater infrastructure that meets the needs of our society and protects and improves our environment into the future.
“The investment plan must prioritise resources to prevent pollution in the priority areas highlighted by the EPA.”
The full report is now available on the EPA website.
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