Over half of Ireland’s waste treatment plants are failing to meet pollution limits stipulated in their licences, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says.
“Wastewater discharged from 59 per cent of Ireland’s existing treatment plants failed to consistently meet standards set in EPA licences to prevent pollution”, the EPA warns in its latest report.
“Nearly half of these failures are due to poor operational management at existing treatment plants.
Delays by Uisce Éireann in delivering improved infrastructure are prolonging risks to water quality.
EPA will continue to take enforcement action to bring existing wastewater treatment plants up to standard.”
The Environmental Protection Agency said that investment in priority areas is delivering improvements with the volume of raw sewage discharged daily now half what it was a year ago.
But wastewater discharges “continue to harm water quality in rivers, estuaries, lakes and coastal waters”, the EPA warned.
“Targeting improvements at priority areas identified by the EPA is delivering environmental benefits”, says Pat Byrne from the EPA.
“The new treatment plants built to stop discharges of raw sewage from areas such as Arklow and Kilrush are clear examples of this progress. However, delays in designing and delivering infrastructural upgrades required at many more areas are prolonging negative impacts on water quality and the wider environment.
Uisce Éireann must accelerate the pace of delivery of essential upgrades at priority areas to ensure cleaner rivers, estuaries, lakes and coastal waters and support a healthier environment for all.”
Uisce Éireann, previously known as Irish Water, said it is making “major strides in upgrading Ireland’s wastewater infrastructure, with record investment driving environmental protection and supporting sustainable development in communities across Ireland.”
“Uisce Éireann acknowledges the EPA’s concerns regarding operational incidents. We recognise that many of these challenges stem from the legacy condition of our assets, which in many cases lack the resilience required of a modern wastewater network. This is primarily due to decades of under-investment and the ageing nature of much of Ireland’s wastewater infrastructure which comprises over 1,000 treatment plants, 2,200 pumping stations, and 26,000km of network.”
EPA licences set out the treatment standards necessary to prevent pollution and protect the environment.
EPA assessment of wastewater discharges in this report highlights that 59 percent of licensed treatment plants fail to consistently meet these standards.
Failures range from occasional, short-term breaches to persistent discharges of poorly treated sewage, the EPA said.