CLARE COUNTY Council has admitted that raw sewage from the holiday town of Kilkee is still being discharged into the Atlantic, five years after it was to be brought into compliance with the EU wastewater directive.
The outfall, located in the cliffs at Intrinsic Bay – about 1.5km from the nearest swimming area at Moore Bay, discharges a mix of foul and surface water from the town, which has no sewage treatment system.
Seán Ward, senior engineer for water services, insisted that the sewage outfall had no impact on water quality in Moore Bay, as tests carried out under the Bathing Water Regulations showed it complied with statutory requirements.
He said it also met the more stringent requirements of the international Blue Flag programme, and Kilkee beach was awarded a Blue Flag again this year – as it had been every year since 1999. Mr Ward admitted that Kilkee had lost the Blue Flag in 1996 and 1997 because water flowing on to the beach from a small river running to the south and west of the town “was giving rise to bathing water results not complying with the Blue Flag requirements”.
He said the council did not apply for the Blue Flag in 1998 and measures were taken to prevent the stream flowing on to the beach during the bathing season, by placing a weir in it and pumping its water to the outfall to the bay.
However, one local landowner has complained to the council that the rising main which feeds the outfall goes through his land.
Mr Ward said a preliminary report for Kilkee’s sewerage system, incorporating a network upgrade and secondary treatment, was prepared by consulting engineers RPS-MCOS and submitted to the Department of the Environment in June 2005.
Final approval of this report has still not been received, but Mr Ward said: “When it is received, Clare County Council will start detailed design, as the project is included in the 2010-2012 Water Services Investment Programme.”