Irish Water says it’ll take up to four years to bring wastewater treatment up to scratch in Clare.
It follows a report from the EPA, which found that raw sewage is still being pumped into our waters at 44 locations nationwide – including Ballyvaughan, Clarecastle, Kilkee, Kilrush and Liscannor.
It also identified issues in Ennis North, Shannon, Lahinch and Kilmihil.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s 2016 Urban Waste Water Treatment Report has highlighted a total of nine areas in Clare with issues.
Aside from the five locations where raw sewage is being pumped into the sea, the sewage treatment in Ennis North, Shannon and Lahinch were found to be failing standards imposed to protect public health.
There are also pressures on the system associated with a stream in Kilmihil, which puts it at risk of not meeting environmental objectives.
Irish Water says work is ongoing at various stages to bring Clare’s wastewater treatment up to standard – which is expected to be completed by 2021.
But the report states that major investment is required – EPA inspector John Feehan is concerned that this may drag out.
The report also states that sewage from the equivalent of 120,000 people is flowing into coastal areas throughout the country.
It can be contaminated with harmful bacteria and viruses and can pose a threat to public health.
One of the areas in Clare where this is being experienced, as identified in the EPA report, is Clarecastle.
Local councillor and Mayor of Ennis, Fine Gael’s Paul Murphy is very concerned by what’s emerged.
In response to the issues highlighted nationally, Irish Water says it would take around €13 billion to bring the network up to standard.
Currently they have over 1,400 active projects at a value of €2.2billion and say they are committed to ramping up investment to €326m per year.
