Sixteen Irish towns and villages' sewage not connected to treatment plants

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have accused Uisce Éireann of not taking swifter action on the high volumes of sewage emitted into seas and rivers every day in Ireland.

In a report carried out by the EPA, raw sewage is still being discharged into large water areas from up to sixteen towns and villages as they are not connected to treatment plants.

The report states: “All deficient wastewater works must be brought up to the standards required to protect the environment but, based on Irish Water estimates, this could take over two decades and will require substantial investment."

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Uisce Éireann have said they are implementing plans to provide treatment to six of the affected towns and villages by next year including Arklow where half of the raw sewage discharged is generated daily.

As it stands, the latest plans indicate that all the remaining areas will have treatment in place by 2030. 

Uisce Éireann has extended its timeline to deliver treatment for a further eight towns and villages by between two and five years. The reasons given for the delays are “statutory processes taking longer than expected and legal challenges”.

Despite the delays, the report states that “good progress” has been made as it highlights that ten towns and villages which had previously discharged raw sewage every day were connected to treatment plants last year, while a three more were connected earlier this year.