Several major cities and large towns in the UK are falling short of the EU’s wastewater treatment standards, according to a finding by the EPA. These standards have been established to safeguard the environment. Areas of dense population, including Dublin (attributed to ongoing capacity issues at the Ringsend wastewater treatment facility), Limerick, Arklow and Malahide, are amongst those failing to meet these requirements.
The EPA, in its 2023 yearly wastewater report publicised on Friday, warned that all non-compliant wastewater infrastructures must be upgraded to meet the necessary standards to conserve the environment. However, based on projections from Uisce Éireann, the transformation might span over twenty years and would necessitate heavy investment.
There has been slow progress in formulating and implementing solutions, needed for bodies of water severely impacted by wastewater emissions, stated the report. Consequently, it advocated for expeditious execution of these crucial works at affected sites.
The EPA report also acknowledged a 45% reduction in the number of towns and villages dispatching untreated sewage since the dawn of 2023, but noted that over half of the treatment plants are not consistently meeting the anti-pollution standards specified in their licences.
There has been a drop in the number of towns and villages dumping raw sewage every day, from 29 to 16. Despite this, it highlights that wastewater treatment in many areas is still not up to par, resulting in negative impacts on the quality of rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastal waters.
Given the impossibility to rectify all issues quickly, the report calls for prioritising improvements in the most affected regions. 73 priority areas requiring urgent improvement were identified by the EPA, half of which are yet to undergo upgrade works by Uisce Éireann.
The director of EPA, Dr. Tom Ryan, underscored the importance of investment, stating that it led to the cessation of raw sewage discharges over the past year from 13 towns and villages that were identified as priority areas. He concluded by noting that substantial upgrades were underway at Ringsend, Ireland’s largest treatment plant.
Dr. Ryan emphasised the urgency of intensive and dedicated financial input into wastewater treatment infrastructure, stressing that meeting the necessary environmental protection standards may take over 20 years without it. The Environmental Protection Agency has called out Uisce Éireann on their sluggish progress in planning and implementing necessary fixes in the worst affected areas, allowing pollution to persist when speedy execution of these vital works should be a priority.
The urban wastewater treatment directive establishes the expected treatment protocols for larger towns and cities across the EU. Notable failures to meet these baseline standards in 2023 included areas such as Lahinch in County Clare; Aughrim in Wicklow County; Ballina-Killaloe on the Shannon river; Moville in County Donegal; and Cloyne and Rathcormac in County Cork.
Noel Byrne, the programme manager at EPA, expressed that it was inexcusable that more than half of all licenced plants fail to consistently meet EU standards. The shortcomings range from temporary non-compliance with treatment benchmarks to ongoing release of untreated sewage.
Byrne stressed that resolving short-term breaches demands effective management and equipment upkeep, while Uisce Éireann should focus on addressing infrastructure deficiencies in priority zones identified by the EPA during the 2025-2029 investment cycle, which will significantly enhance environmental health and water quality.
While acknowledging the historical underinvestment, Uisce Éireann stated that it has made significant strides in tackling priority challenges, achieving an 82% reduction in raw sewage discharges by eliminating them in 41 out of 50 areas. It reported that 94% of treatment plants are currently meeting the set directive, and since 2014, 136 plants have been constructed or improved.
Nonetheless, the organisation acknowledged that multi-billion euro investments will be necessary over extended periods to meet the requisite standards.