Urgent action needed on wastewater treatment plants in Midlands and country

IFA Environment Chair John Murphy has expressed concern at the findings of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) latest report on urban wastewater treatment, which highlights serious ongoing operational and maintenance issues at Uisce Éireann wastewater treatment plants.

According to the EPA report, discharges from 59% of Uisce Éireann operated plants failed to consistently prevent pollution, with nearly half of these attributed to poor operational management and maintenance practices.

“This level of discharges reflects the increased number of reporting of potential non-compliance and videos that have been circulating in recent times of discharges into waterbodies,” said John Murphy.

He said it is completely unacceptable that preventable operational failures in the public wastewater system are continuing to undermine efforts to improve water quality, not least the work of farmers in this area.

“It is clear that far too many treatment plants remain poorly managed, posing unacceptable risks to water quality and public health,” he said.

He acknowledged the significant infrastructural investments made by Uisce Éireann in recent years and the important progress achieved — including the elimination of raw sewage discharges from towns, although this is still an issue in 15 locations, which is unacceptable.

He said that while infrastructural improvements will take time, and significant investment, the operational and maintenance issues must be addressed as a matter of urgency to ensure a fair and effective approach to improving water quality.

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