Tide turning on dirty beaches and pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency identified beaches which reached minimum EU standards only, writes Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent

Tummy bugs and ear infections can ruin any good summer holiday, and never more so than when its a break at home. If its a break near a beach or a popular inland waterway, chances are it may have been picked up while swimming.

By international standards, the Republic has some of the best bathing water quality in Europe - with a few notable exceptions, like many Dublin beaches and Brittas Bay in Co Wicklow.

The most recent Environmental Protection Agency report, however, identified a number of beaches which reached minimum mandatory EU quality standards only. These include Lady's Bay and Port Arthur in Co Donegal; Clifden and Furbo in Co Galway; Inny, Waterville, Co Kerry; Laytown and Bettystown in Co Meath; Inishcrone, Co Sligo and Clogga Beach in Co Wicklow.

For five secondary school students in Clifden, the inclusion of their own local bathing area would have come as no great surprise.

The students, who were competing in the recent Eco-Ballygowan Environmentalist Awards under the supervision of their science teacher, Ms Olivia Staunton, found alarmingly high levels of E. coli bacteria in Clifden Bay, mainly from faecal sources.

The lack of a proper sewage treatment system in the expanding urban area was identified as the main cause of the pollution - Clifden is on the list for providing treatment works under the National Development Plan, although construction on the €14 million project is not expected to start till next year.

The Department of the Environment emphasises major waste-water treatment schemes are at an advanced stage of construction in Cork, Limerick, Galway and Wexford. Other coastal schemes under construction, or due to start, this year include Carrigaline and Cobh in Co Cork; Dungarvan, Tramore and Waterford city in Co Waterford and Sligo. Schemes for Bray, Co Wicklow; Bundoran, Co Donegal; New Ross, Co Wexford and Shanganagh, Co Wicklow, have been approved for funding next year, as has the Arklow main drainage scheme in Co Wicklow - subject, in the case of Arklow, to the outcome of legal proceedings over the proposed location.

The current Programme for Government includes two commitments: discharges of untreated sewage from our big cities and towns will end by the end of this year, and the Urban Waste Water Directive requirements will be met in relation to sewage treatment, with an advanced stage of planning for all population centres of more than 1,000 people by 2005. All welcome, but smaller populated areas are ignored and also many small inshore rivers and streams where, for example, children may like to swim - or which may feed into coastal beach areas and cause localised pollution, says Ms Karin Dubsky of Coastwatch Europe.

She cites Ballymoney stream, which flows through about 6 km of mixed farm, tourism and small village hinterland before entering the sea at Ballymoney beach in Co Wexford. Typical of around 1,000 such inflows on this island, the stream used to carry eels and many small animal species 20 years ago. However, now there are no fish and only the most tolerant "indicator species" like leeches can be found.

In early summer 2000, visiting children experienced tummy upsets but a link to bathing and playing in the stream was not studied. Like many others, the stream is too small to be monitored officially.

However, there had been a substantial population growth locally in recent years, reflected in more caravan parks and holiday housing. Each house and site has its own mini-treatment system or septic tank.

In mid-summer of 2000, Coastwatch Europe began taking weekly water samples which showed pollution was a problem.This increased awareness about the stream's risks, and Wexford Co Council is now preparing engineering plans to treat effluent from a public toilet block and from surrounding houses.

There has also been local backing for a sewage treatment works, with householders agreeing to carry the cost of joining it once the infrastructure and running costs are paid by the State.

Ms Dubsky acknowledges that in this instance the local authority - Wexford Co Council - didn't try to "shoot the messenger".

Instead, it took the decision to act in the public interest in co-operation with Coastwatch Europe and the local community.