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SPLASH
Splash, www.bathingwater.ie, is a portal to bathing water quality information at the 135 Identified Bathing Waters around Ireland. The website provides the latest bathing water sampling results for a bathing water as well as historic data showing how the water quality of a bathing water has performed over recent bathing seasons. Splash also provides a description of each bathing water along with information in relation to blue flag status, availablility of lifeguards and a link to weather forecasts and tide information. Information is provided textually, graphically and in a geo-referenced (map based) format, in-line with the requirements of the new Bathing Water Quality Regulations 2008. If you have any queries in relation to bathing water results provided in the website please contact the relevant local authority.
Back to TopLatest Quality section
Check out the latest bathing water quality together with information on blue flag status, beach information, weather, lifeguards and tides before you head to the beach. Find out which bathing waters have good, sufficient or poor water quality based on their latest sampling results. If you have any queries in relation to bathing water results provided in the website please contact the relevant local authority. The website provides the latest bathing water results for identified bathing waters, where relevant local authorities submit sampling results in a timely manner throughout the bathing season (1 June - 15 September) to the EPA.
Back to TopAnnual Quality section
Find out how the water quality at your favourite beach has performed over recent bathing seasons. Check out which bathing waters have good, sufficient or poor water quality based on their sampling results for the bathing season (1 June - 15 September) and for the pre-season sampling period (22 - 31 May). This section is complimentary to the bathing water reports that the EPA publishes prior to the start of the new bathing season. Read more in the EPA Bathing Water Quality Reports.
Back to TopNavigation in the Splash
In the Latest and Annual Quality sections of the website you can search, using navigation options, for bathing water quality information at national, local authority, river basin district (RBD) and bathing water level. River basin disticts (RBDs) are the river-basin approach boundaries for water management under the Water Framework Directive and there are eight RBDs in Ireland. You can also use the mapping area and tools to navigate to your preferred bathing water. In the Annual Quality section you can select a single year by inputting the preferred year in the selection criteria ‘From’ and ‘To’ or a range of years from 2003 to 2010 for which you wish to view bathing water information. Where a range of years is selected, the bathing water quality information for the last year selected is displayed in the map, piechart, assessment text and change in water quality status tab.
Back to TopAcknowledgments
The EPA appreciates the support of the relevant local authorities for the provision of bathing water results throughout the bathing season to allow for their timely availability in the Splash website for the public. The EPA recognises the kind support of An Taisce in the provision of beach information, blue flag status information and beach photographs for the website.
The EPA acknowledges the work undertaken by IBM Water Management Centre of Excellence in developing the solution and First Impression for the website design.
Back to TopNew Bathing Water Legislation
A new Directive concerning the management of bathing water quality (Directive 2006/7/EC) came into force on 24 March 2006 and will repeal the existing 1976 Directive with effect from 31 December 2014. The new 2006 Directive gives stronger focus on the protection of public health, a proactive approach to the management of bathing water quality and greater public participation. It establishes stricter microbiological standards for two new parameters, Intestinal enterococci and escherichia coli. The 2006 Directive also establishes a new classification system for bathing water quality based on four classifications ‘poor’, ‘sufficient’, ‘good’ and ‘excellent’ and generally requires that a classification of sufficient be achieved by 2015 for all bathing waters. The classification of bathing waters will be determined, in general, on the basis of a four-year period instead of the monitoring results from a single bathing season. This means that the classification will give a balanced rating and will be less susceptible to bad weather or one-off incidents. The Bathing Water Directive is implemented in Ireland through the Bathing Water Quality Regulations, 2008 (S.I. No. 79 of 2008).
Back to TopIdentified Bathing Waters
In 2011 a total of 135 bathing waters were identified by the relevant Local Authorities of which, 5 are newly identified bathing waters and 130 are previously identified bathing waters. Local authorities are required on or before 24 March each year to identify bathing waters in relation to the forthcoming bathing season and to notify the EPA of the bathing waters so identified. A Local Authority is required to identify as bathing waters, all elements of surface water where the Local Authority expects a large number of people to bathe and where such water lies within the functional area of the authority or is immediately contiguous to the functional area of the Local Authority. Local authorities are also required to ensure that appropriate measures have been taken in relation to public participation in the identification process.
Back to TopDelisting of Bathing Waters
For the 2011 bathing season, one bathing water was delisted by the relevant local authority and was notified to the EPA.
Back to TopMonitoring
The responsibility for sampling water quality (or arranging for sampling) at identified bathing waters lies with the relevant Local Authorities. Local Authorities are required to establish a monitoring calendar for each identified bathing water and submit the monitoring calendars to the EPA by 24 March each year. From 2011 onwards, two new microbiological parameters Intestinal enterococci and Escherichia coli will be monitored and used to assess the water quality status of bathing waters. Local Authorities are required to take a minimum of five (5) samples per bathing season, one sample before the start of the bathing season and a minimum of four samples distributed throughout the bathing season. The bathing season in any year (1 June - 15 September) and the pre-season sampling period (22 – 31 May).
Back to TopReporting
From the 2009 bathing season onwards, the EPA has requested the relevant Local Authorities to submit bathing water sampling results via an electronic reporting system to allow for their timely availability from the Splash website for the public during the bathing season. The EPA is responsible for compiling the bathing water quality results and other information from the relevant local authorities, assessing compliance of bathing waters with EU water quality standards and reporting this information to the European Commission each year.
Back to TopAssessment
From 2011 onwards two new microbiological parameters Escherichia coli and Intestinal enterococci will be used for bathing water quality monitoring as required under the new Bathing Water Quality Regulations 2008. Water quality assessment will be undertaken using the equivalent limits specified in the 1992 Quality of Bathing Water Regulations, where Escherichia coli is considered to be equivalent to the parameter Faecal coliforms and the parameter Intestinal enterococci is considered to be equivalent to the parameter Faecal streptococci. The sampling results will be assessed for compliance with the guide and mandatory standards for the equivalent parameters specified in the 1992 Regulations.
From 2014 onwards, bathing waters will be classified on the basis of a four-year period with the first classification taking place in 2014 based on results from 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 and the limits specified in the 2006 Regulations.
Table 1 Parameter conversion for assessment of bathing water quality during the Transition Period (2011-2013) and corresponding limit values and assessment to be used
| Regulation (S.I. No. 79 of 2008) | Regulation (S.I. No. 155 of 1992) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Parameter | Corresponding parameter | Guide values | Mandatory values |
| Intestinal enterococci (cfu/100 ml) |
Faecal streptococci/100 ml | (90% of samples) |
* |
| Escherichia coli (cfu/100 ml) |
Faecal coliforms/100 ml | (80% of samples) |
2000 (95% of samples) |
* For the parameter Intestinal enterococci, all bathing waters get compliant with the mandatory value automatically as no corresponding faecal streptococci mandatory limit is specified in 1992 Regulations.
Back to TopWater Quality Status
For the two microbiological parameters, Escherichia coli and Intestinal enterococci the EPA will assess the water quality of bathing waters for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 bathing seasons (transition period) as follows:
- Compliance with guide and mandatory values achieves good water quality status
- Compliance with mandatory values only achieves sufficient water quality status
- Noncompliance with mandatory values equates to poor water quality status.
- Bathing waters are not classified as ‘excellent‘, as the 1992 Regulations does not have bathing water standards that equate to an excellent classification.
The status of a bathing water will be presented by the poorer status of the two parameters. The EPA will assess the compliance and water quality status of individual samples throughout the bathing season for timely display on SPLASH and will assess overall compliancy and overall water quality status of bathing waters based on the full set of samples for that bathing season (and the pre-season sampling period) at the end of each year.
Back to TopPre-2011 Assessment
In the Annual Quality section of Splash, the compliance of bathing waters pre-2011 was based on a sub-set of the parameters specified in the EU Directive 76/160/EEC. The five microbiological and physicochemical parameters considered for EU compliance purposes were:
- Total coliforms
- Faecal coliforms
- Mineral oils
- Surface active substances
- Phenols
The results of samples analysed were assessed for compliance with two sets of EU standards specified in the Directive: minimum quality standards (EU mandatory values) and more stringent quality targets (EU guide values).
Table 2 Quality Requirements for EU Compliance of Bathing Water
| EC Directive concerning the Quality of Bathing Waters (76/160/EEC) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Parameters | Guide | Mandatory |
| Microbiological |
||
| Total coliforms (Number/100ml) | ≤500 1 | ≤10,000 3 |
| Faecal coliforms (Number/100ml) | ≤100 1 | ≤2,000 3 |
| Physicochemical | ||
| Mineral oils (mg/l) | ≤0.3 2 | No film visible on the surface of the water & no odour 3 |
| Surface active substances (mg/l) | ≤0.3 2 | No lasting foam 3 |
| Phenol (mg/l as C4H3OH) | ≤0.005 2 | No specific odour ≤ 0.05 3 |
Note 1: ≥80% of samples - Note 2: ≥ 90% of samples - Note 3: ≥ 95% of samples
Back to TopDisclaimer
Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this website, it is not possible to guarantee that it is accurate in all cases. Information compiled by third parties is not necessarily correct, and is provided as is. The fact that it is included in this site does not mean that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accepts or agrees with it. The EPA does not accept any responsibility whatsoever for loss or damage occasioned, or claimed to have been occasioned, in part or in full as a consequence of any person acting or refraining from acting, as a result of a matter contained in this website. As electronic data may also be modified or corrupted, whenever accuracy is important, it is recommended that you obtain a copy of the original data on which the information is based and verify its accuracy.
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