Dublin fails EU standards on sewage

THE Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said that more investment is required to eliminate the discharge of raw sewage from urban areas after Dublin failed to meet European Union standards.

The EPA’s Urban Waste Water Treatment in 2014 report revealed how Greater Dublin (Ringsend) failed to meet the EU Directive’s effluent quality and sampling standards.

It also found that untreated sewage is discharged from Rush in North County Dublin.

The EPA says investment is required to meet European Union standards that are intended to prevent the adverse environmental and public health effects associated with sewage.

“Sewage discharges continue to impact on our environment,” said Noel Byrne, EPA Office of Environmental Enforcement.

“Continued investment in infrastructure and a reversal in the recent decline in capital expenditure are essential to provide the waste water treatment necessary in Dublin to protect receiving waters and meet obligations under EPA authorisations and European Directives.”

Mr Byrne added: “As well as investing in capital works, the operation and management of the existing waste water plants needs to improve in order to get the best from the treatment infrastructure already in place and to bring about improvements in waste water treatment.”

In its report the EPA explained that waste water must be treated prior to being released back into the environment in order to remove contaminants that could otherwise pose a risk to the environment or public health.

The report also found that across the country, 12 (seven per cent) of large urban areas did not meet the European Union Directive requirement to provide secondary (biological) treatment.

Seven other large urban areas did not comply with the European Union Directive requirement to provide infrastructure to reduce nutrients and discharged effluent.

As well as Dublin, the report found that untreated sewage was discharged from 45 areas, 27 of which are located in counties Cork, Donegal and Galway.

Irish Water, Ireland’s national water utility, is responsible for providing and developing water and waste water services throughout Ireland.

The body said it is making significant progress in addressing the most serious deficiencies with Ireland’s waste water treatment.

Following publication of the EPA’s Urban Wastewater Report 2014, the utility said that €320 million had been invested in new and upgraded waste water infrastructure in 2014 and 2015.

It expects to invest more than €2 billion on waste water infrastructure over the next few years up to 2021.

“Irish Water has committed to ending the unacceptable discharge of untreated sewage from 45 locations across the country in that time,” Irish Water stated.

“We are prioritising solutions for 83 waste water treatment schemes that are currently the subject of European Court of Justice cases against Ireland for longstanding breaches of European Directives.”

Irish Water said investment will deliver new and upgraded treatment plants at Swords, Rush and Ringsend among others around the country