Do Not Swim notice has been extended at Front Strand Balbriggan

Fingal County Council has announced that the Do Not Swim notice has been extended at Front Strand Balbriggan.

In a statement, the local authority said: “Ongoing elevated bacterial results (E.coli and Enterococci) have been found from seawater sampling since 25th July, 2022 at Front Strand, Balbriggan.

“Initial investigations found no visible signs of pollution or network issues and resamples of the bathing water have been taken during this incident.

“River monitoring at the River Bracken has been conducted on scheduled bathing water sampling dates since the start of the bathing season (1st June).

“This resulted in a section of the river which flows through the town of Balbriggan being identified for focused investigation.

“An in-channel river walk was conducted, and a visible sign of pollution found which could be a potential source of the elevated bacteria in the river.

“It is not clear yet what is the cause (possibly private misconnection of foul water to surface water or a leak from network or blockage) and an investigation is in progress involving Irish Water and Fingal’s Drainage and Water Pollution teams.”

The council says that tests taken on August 4 continue “to show elevated Enterococci results” in the water which has resulted an in an extension to the temporary Do Not Swim notice at the beach.

“Balbriggan Beach remains open but beach users are asked to respect the ‘Do Not Swim’ notice as it has been put in place to ensure that the health of bathers is not compromised,” the council says.

Members of the public can check for water quality at any of the monitored bathing waters in Ireland in advance by accessing the EPA website at www.beaches.ie or by checking the notice board at the entrance to each beach.

To view an explanation of the standards used for reporting results of bathing water please go to https://www.fingal.ie/bathing-water-quality-monitoring-faqs