Monitoring & Assessment: Freshwater & Marine Publications

Bathing Water Quality In Ireland 2017

A report for the year 2017

Summary: This report presents the fourth assessment of Ireland’s 142 bathing waters identified under the Bathing Water Quality Regulations 2008.

This report presents the fourth assessment of Ireland’s 142 bathing waters identified under the Bathing Water Quality Regulations 2008 and is based on the results of monitoring covering the period 2014 to 2017. It also provides information on water quality at other locations where bathing activities occur and the water quality monitoring is undertaken by local authorities as a public health measure.

Key Findings 2017

• 93% (132) of our coastal and lake beaches met the minimum standard of Sufficient water quality

• 84.5% (120) were classed as either Excellent or Good water quality

• 8 beaches showed some deterioration in quality – five of which are in the Dublin area

• 7 beaches were classed as Poor – five of which are in the Dublin area

• 4 beaches showed an improvement in water – all from rural or small urban areas

Learn about water quality at your local beach

The EPA provides systems for the communication and management of bathing water data both for Local Authorities and to provide information to the public using our national bathing water website www.beaches.ie which was launched in June 2017. This was specifically designed to be accessed from mobile devices and represents a major step forward in making information on bathing water quality much more accessible. Details of any incidents at our
main beaches reported by local authorities are notified to the public via a dedicated Twitter account @EPABeaches during the bathing season.