Background
- SPLASH
- EPA & Local Authority Roles
- Legislation
- Designated Bathing Areas
- Compliance Assessment
- Water Quality Status
SPLASH
Splash bathingwater.ie is a portal to bathing water quality information at the 131 designated bathing areas around Ireland. The website provides the latest bathing water sampling results for a bathing area as well as historic data showing how the water quality of a bathing area has performed over recent bathing seasons. Splash also provides a description of each bathing area 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 2006 Bathing Water Directive. 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 areas 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 designated bathing areas, where the relevant local authorities submit sampling results in a timely manner throughout the bathing season 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 areas have good, sufficient or poor water quality based on their sampling results for the bathing season. 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 area 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 area. 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 2009 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 also 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 TopEPA & Local Authority Roles
The responsibility for sampling water quality (or arranging for sampling) at designated bathing areas lies with the relevant local authorities. Sampling at these bathing areas must be undertaken on a fortnightly basis during the bathing season, which extends from the 1 June until the end of August each year. Monitoring commences two weeks before the start of the season. The minimum number of samples to be taken during the season is seven. The frequency of bathing water sampling may be reduced to a minimum of four times during the bathing season when a bathing area is compliant with at least the EU mandatory bathing water standards for the two previous years and when no new factor likely to lower the quality of the water has arisen. Local authorities are required to ensure when any bathing water sample fails the EU mandatory bathing water values that the public are made aware of this fact by means of information notices posted at the bathing area. Local authorities are required to take the necessary measures to ensure that the standards are complied with.
Local Authorities are required to report the results of sampling to the EPA at the end of each bathing season. From the 2009 bathing season onwards, the EPA has requested the relevant local authorities to submit sampling results using an electronic reporting system to allow for their timely availability from the Splash website for the public. The EPA is responsible for compiling the bathing water quality results from the relevant local authorities and reporting this information to the European Commission each year. The EPA national bathing water quality report previously published annually has been replaced by Splash which provides an overview of bathing water quality at national, RBD, local authority and bathing area levels.
The Office of Environmental Enforcement within the EPA follows up on the cause of any bathing water failing the EU mandatory values and the measures being taken by the relevant local authority to bring the bathing area into compliance.
Back to TopLegislation
The legislation governing the quality of bathing waters for the 2010 season is set out in the Quality of Bathing Waters Regulations, 1992 (S.I 155 of 1992) and amendments, which transposed the EU Directive 76/160/EEC concerning the quality of bathing water. The purpose is to ensure that bathing water quality is maintained and if necessary improved so that it complies with specified standards designated to protect health and the environment.
A new Directive on bathing water (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 2006 Directive 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. Transitional measures are in place until the new Bathing Water Quality Regulations 2008 (SI No. 79 of 2008) are fully implemented.
Back to TopDesignated Bathing Areas
A total of 131 designated bathing areas are monitored during the bathing season, of which 122 are seawater and nine are freshwater bathing areas on lakes. This accounts for about 0.6 per cent of the reported bathing waters of the EU. Seawater bathing areas increased from 65 in 1991 to 122 in 2001 and freshwater bathing areas increased from five in 1992 to nine in 1994.
For the 2009 bathing season, 75 of the 131 designated bathing areas received a blue flag award from An Taisce. Find out more about blue flag and green coast awards.
Back to TopCompliance Assessment
EU bathing water compliance is currently 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 are:
- Total coliforms
- Faecal coliforms
- Mineral oils
- Surface active substances
- Phenols
The results of samples analysed are 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). Over the bathing season, water quality at each bathing area must comply with the minimum EU mandatory values. In addition, all bathing areas should endeavour to achieve the stricter EU guide values. The EU mandatory and guide values for the five EU compliance parameters are given in Table 1.
Table 1 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 TopWater Quality Status
A new Directive on bathing water (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 Directive establishes stricter microbiological standards for two new parameters, Intestinal enterococci and Escherichia coli, which will be used to classify bathing waters as 'poor', 'sufficient', 'good' and 'excellent'.
The 'excellent' classification is approximately twice as stringent as the current EU guide values while the 'good' classification is similar to the current EU guide values. The 'sufficient' classification is tighter than the current EU mandatory values whereas the 'poor' classification is noncompliant bathing water.
In the Splash website, the current EU mandatory and guide values (1976 Directive) for the five microbiological and physicochemical parameters considered for EU compliance purposes are used to classify the bathing areas 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.
From the 2011 bathing season onwards, the two robust microbiological parameters, Intestinal enterococci and Escherichia coli, will be monitored and used to classify bathing waters.
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.