Daily discharges of raw sewage have halved since early 2024, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says Ireland is not keeping pace with a growing population.
Investment at priority areas highlighted by the EPA is delivering improvements, it says, but wastewater discharges continue to harm water quality in rivers, estuaries, lakes and coastal waters.
Its latest report on urban waste water treatment finds that over half (59 per cent) 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 main causes are inadequate infrastructure and poor operation and maintenance of treatment plants.
“Operation and maintenance issues can and must be resolved as a matter of urgency. Addressing infrastructural deficits is a longer-term challenge that requires substantial and sustained investment,” the EPA says.
“ As it will take many years to complete all infrastructural upgrades, Uisce Éireann must give priority to the areas where improvements are most needed and will bring the greatest benefits,” it says.
“The EPA has identified 78 priority areas for improvements. Uisce Éireann has not yet started the works needed at half of these,” it says.
Pat Byrne, Director of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring said 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,”Byrne said.
Treatment at fourteen large towns and cities failed to meet basic, European wide standards set in the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. Six of these met the standards in 2023, highlighting the need for Uisce Éireann to take action to prevent previously compliant treatment plants slipping into non-compliance, the EPA says.
Regarding the operation and maintenance of treatment plants, Noel Byrne, EPA Programme Manager, said that “too many wastewater treatment plants are failing to meet licence standards due to poor management and maintenance practices”.
“This is simply not good enough. When treatment plants break down or are not managed properly, our environment pays the price. The EPA has prosecuted Uisce Éireann on 28 occasions for failing to treat wastewater properly,” he said.
The Sustainable Water Network (SWAN), representing 25 of Ireland’s leading environmental NGOs, warned that the report “ demonstrates that pressing failures persist due to inadequate management and slow infrastructural delivery, posing serious risks to water quality, public health, and biodiversity”.
“More urgent action is needed by Uisce Eireann and the government to address this significant ongoing issue,” SWAN said.
The Urban Wastewater Treatment in 2024 report and the list of priority areas – including details of the environmental issues at each location and Uisce Éireann’s plans to address them – are available on the EPA website.
