The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), environmental regulator of Irish Water, is warning that serious deficiencies in the treatment of wastewater in Ireland are causing unacceptable risks to environment and public health.

The warning comes in a new report from the EPA - Urban Waste Water Treatment in 2016 -  which highlights the need for significant funding to address the legacy of underinvestment in infrastructure needed to collect and treat Ireland’s waste water effectively. The report finds that treatment is inadequate in many areas.

Ringsend wastewater treatment plant, Dublin

More than one billion litres of waste water In Ireland is collected every day in approximately 30,000 kilometres of sewers which is then treated at 1,100 waste water treatment plants and then discharged into rivers, lakes and coastal waters.

The European Commission is taking Ireland to the Court of Justice of the European Union because of the ongoing failure to ensure that waste water is adequately collected and treated.

A total of 50 large urban areas failed to meet the EU Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive standards in 2016, including Ireland’s two largest cities, Dublin and Cork. The 50 areas account for almost two thirds (64%) of the national waste water load collected in all large urban areas.

Dublin needs a major upgrade of the Ringsend treatment plant, the report says.  

There are currently 44 areas around Ireland where sewage from the equivalent of 120,000 people is released back into the environment without treatment each day. Three of the areas, which Irish Water previously misreported as receiving primary treatment, were found to be discharging raw sewage in 2016. Plans to install treatment at some of these areas is delayed by up to three years and most will not be completed until 2021.

According to the EPA, despite the progress at some areas, there are still long delays in building many of the treatment plants needed to eliminate discharges of untreated waste water.

The report says the delays mean that 31 areas are likely to continue discharging raw sewage into 2021 and points out that many of the projects to provide treatment are running three years behind schedule.

In response to the delays, the EPA has separately started legal action against Irish Water for continuing to discharge untreated waste water into the environment.

“The pace of improvements to waste water treatment infrastructure falls far short of EPA requirements”, the report says.

Less than half (44%) of improvement works due between 2009 and 2016 were reported as complete at the end of 2016. The EPA has already prosecuted Irish Water for not completing the infrastructural works needed to improve discharges into rivers from three priority areas. In 59 areas waste water is the sole threat to rivers, lakes and coastal waters that are at risk of not achieving good status.  Four bathing water areas were also deemed unsafe for swimming due to health risks caused by sewage.

Further cases in relation to delays in providing essential infrastructure are before the courts.

The EPA is now calling for a substantial increase in capital investment to provide the outstanding infrastructure needed to collect and treat waste water effectively. It also says that the delivery of infrastructure projects should become more efficient, so that there are no avoidable delays.

Commenting on the report Gerard O’Leary, Director of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement said,

“Wastewater from over half our population failed to meet environmental standards.  For many years Ireland failed to address the deficiencies in wastewater treatment.  Substantial and sustained investment is now required to protect our valuable waterways and protect public health.”

Click here to download the EPA Report Urban Waste Water Treatment in 2016