New technology to improve public access to information on bathing water quality has been installed at Dún Laoghaire Baths in South Dublin.
Named “UrbanDip”, the project involves testing a near-real-time bathing water quality sampling system alongside an artificial intelligence-powered pollution forecasting tool at Dún Laoghaire Baths.
The prototype is installed on site and operates alongside the existing regulatory bathing water quality monitoring programme, according to Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown (DLR) County Council.
UrbanDip researchers and DLR representatives at Dún Laoghaire Baths for the bathing water quality trial
The county council is participating in the three-year research project with Dublin City University (DCU) and the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities. “As this is a research and validation exercise, results will not be made publicly available,” it says. It says that “if successful, UrbanDip could provide more timely information to support informed decisions around safe swimming and other recreational water activities”.
“Through automated testing and predictive analytics, the system aims to identify swim-friendly conditions more accurately and may help increase the number of suitable swimming days each year,” it says.
“Regulatory bathing water sampling will remain the primary source of official water quality information. However, the “UrbanDip” system has the potential to complement this by offering more frequent insights,” it says.
A similar “UrbanDip” kiosk was installed in Tartu, Estonia, in September 2025, it explains.“These pilot locations act as reference sites for the development, testing and validation of the technology,” it says, and the project runs until October 2027, with a total value of €1.2 million.
The Dún Laoghaire project was initiated through DLR’s Digital Strategy Team, which identifies opportunities to improve council services through research, emerging technology and innovation.
