WATER QUALITY INDICATORS IN PORTMARNOCK & MALAHIDE BEACHES
Over the summer, a disappointing report lead to the absence of Blue Flag awards to several beaches across the county. Local beaches also suffered and the purpose of my question to the council (detailed below) was to illicit their views on how best to achieve a turn around in our fortunes as well and giving a much needed boost to local tourist activities.
Question: Councillor A. Farrell
“To ask the Manager to report on the current water quality indicators in Malahide & Portmarnock beaches?”
Regulation – background
The quality requirements for bathing water areas in Ireland for the 2009 season are set out in the Quality of Bathing Water Regulations, 1992 (S.I 155 of 1992) which transposed the EU Bathing Water Directive 76/160/EEC (S.I. No 79 of 2008) into Irish law. The purpose is to ensure that acceptable bathing water quality is maintained and that it complies with specified standards designed to protect public health and the environment.
Under S.I. No. 177/1998, Quality of Bathing Water (Amendment) Regulations, Local Authorities are obliged to monitor all designated bathing areas in their jurisdiction during the bathing season. Malahide and Portmarnock are 2 of the 9 designated bathing areas in Fingal.
Samples collected under the current Bathing Water Quality monitoring programme check 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.
Blue Flag – background
The Blue Flag Scheme is a voluntary scheme to identify high-quality bathing water areas, administered in Ireland by An Taisce and at European level by the Foundation for Environmental Education in Europe (FEEE). To receive a blue flag, a bathing site, must meet the Guideline water quality standards as set out in the 1976 Directive for the two previous bathing seasons in a row. In addition the bathing site must be an officially designated bathing area with at least one sampling point for water analysis and must meet specified objectives with regard to the provision of safety services and facilities, environmental management of the beach area and environmental education.
Quality of water is changeable and is sensitive to bad weather conditions. Also, dog walking and horse riding is a regular activity on many of the beaches and faecal matter from these animals may contribute to some of non-compliant results.
QUALITY OF BATHING WATER IN THE BATHING SEASON 2009
(Unfortunately, this table as not transposed well onto my website. If you would like a copy of the report, please email me.)
1. Malahide Beach
Table 1 Bathing Water Quality Malahide Beach
Parameter Guideline Limit (Blue Flag) % Passing required 2006 % passing 2007 % passing 2008 % passing 2009 % passing
Total Coliforms 500/100ml 80 83 66 67 69
Faecal Coliforms 100/100ml 80 78 59 63 77
Faecal Streptococci 100/100ml 90 86 94 67 77
Parameter Mandatory Limit % Passing required 2006 % passing 2007 % passing 2008 % passing 2009 % passing
Total Coliforms 10.000/100ml 95 94 100 97 96
Faecal Coliforms 2.000 /100ml 95 94 100 87 100
The Mandatory Limits were achieved through all the bathing season which means the water was safe for bathing. However the Guide Limits were breached on a numbers of occasions.
Reasons for Non-compliances:
Fingal County Council has identified deficiencies in the foul and surface water drainage network in the Malahide area. In some areas the network consists of combined systems where foul and surface water are being discharged through the same pipeline which can lead to surcharging and flooding.
Due to heavy rain on the 2nd July, 4 pump stations overflowed in the area and also there was a discharge from a combined sewer overflow (CSO). These overflows may have contributed to non-compliant results.
Actions taken or planned to be taken to bring back into compliance:
Fingal County Council is preparing a project brief with a view to obtaining funding for the Malahide Foul Drainage scheme from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. It is envisaged that a firm of consultant engineers will be engaged early in 2010 to prepare a preliminary design for planning approval. This is subject to funding and approval from the DOEHLG. Under this scheme, the combined systems will be replaced with separate pipelines and any points of infiltration into the separate systems will be removed. This will reduce the number of overflows annually.
Blue Flag Status
Based on the above results Malahide beach will not be eligible for a Blue Flag in 2010, as it does not comply with the microbiological factors and earliest therefore Malahide could obtain a Blue Flag is 2012.
2. Portmarnock Beach
Table 2 Bathing Water Quality Portmarnock Beach
Parameter Guideline Limit (Blue Flag) % Passing required 2006 % passing 2007 % passing 2008 % passing 2009 % passing
Total Coliforms 500/100ml 80 94 79 86 96
Faecal Coliforms 100/100ml 80 89 79 83 93
Faecal Streptococci 100/100ml 90 89 97 90 92
Parameter Mandatory Limit % Passing required 2006 % passing 2007 % passing 2008 % passing 2009 % passing
Total Coliforms 10.000/100ml 95 100 100 100 96
Faecal Coliforms 2.000 /100ml 95 100 100 100 96
The Mandatory Limits and the Guide Limits were achieved through all the bathing season which means the water was safe for bathing and it was very good quality.
Reasons for Non-compliances (not achieved 100% compliances):
The Strand Road pump station overflowed as a result of heavy rainfall which may have contributed to non-compliant results on 2 occasions.
Actions taken or planned to be taken to bring back into compliance:
The upgrade of the Strand Road Pump Station is part of the Dublin Bay Contract 5.2. This project is currently awaiting approval from the DOEHLG. The Council will be monitoring overflows to determine the number of overflow events during the bathing season.
Blue Flag Status
The beach achieved the Blue Flag standards in 2008 and 2009. Fingal County Council is going to apply for a Blue Flag for the bathing season 2010.