COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

QUESTION NO. 3

QUESTION: Councillor W. Lavelle

"To ask the Chief Executive to report on the latest water quality testing in the River Liffey in the Lucan and Palmerstown areas, with specific reference to recognised bathing water standards; and to further outline any identified major sources of pollution of the River Liffey?"

REPLY:

The River Liffey was monitored against the Bathing Water Quality Regulations 2008 on six occasions over the period December 2016 to March 2017 during different flow conditions of the river. It should be noted that monitoring was carried out to get a general understanding of microbial quality of waters along the stretch of the River Liffey that flows through the county. Results were referenced against the Regulation classifications of ‘Excellent’, ‘Good’, Sufficient’ and ‘Poor’ quality.

The results showed that of the five sites sampled the waters near the Wren’s Nest pub consistently met the bathing standards classification of ‘Sufficient’ and the waters at Knocknemaroon bridge, with the exception of one occasion, also met the ‘Sufficient’ standard. However, the three upstream sites from the N4 Leixlip to Lucan Bridge were classified as ‘Poor’.

The Water Pollution section of South Dublin County Council traditionally tests for chemical contamination and to a much lesser extent microbial contamination for waters in the county. A source of microbial contamination to the River Liffey is the River Griffeen, which suffers from the effects of ‘urbanisation’ contamination, though the degree of impact on the River Liffey has not been assessed. Other sources of microbial contamination may include upstream agricultural land use and municipal waste water treatment discharges.