COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, November 11, 2019

QUESTION NO. 2

QUESTION: Councillor Yvonne Collins

To ask the Chief Executive to list, in tabular form, by area, the incidents of water pollution over the last 12 months, the causes of such pollution and to list the steps being taken by the Council to prevent pollution and improve water quality overall.

REPLY:

The attached document lists the water pollution incidents in the streams and rivers in the SDCC area for the period September 2018 to August 2019. The list is a summation of the Water Pollution Section’s work under the broad heading of pollution incidents types. The Council keeps more detail of each date listed in these records. It should be noted that incidents are generated or reported from various difference sources such as by Water Pollution Section staff by direct work on the ground, other sections and departments of the Council, members of the public, commercial entities and Elected Member among others. Incident types include reported incidents, investigations and assessments that have a direct connection to the stormwater drainage system, and adjacent to or in streams and rivers. The source of pollution incidents may or may not be found as this depends on the duration of pollution, reporting times of pollution, the nature of the pollution itself. However, in all circumstances when the Council receives a report of pollution it will investigate.

Prevention and improvement of water quality in the streams and rivers of South Dublin County can fall under two broad headings: Pollution investigation under the Local Government (Water Pollution) Act 1977 and as amended by the 1990 Act, and basic measures of action that fall under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). These are dealt with as follows:

Pollution investigation such as domestic misconnection investigations allows the Council to find polluting sources that would otherwise be hidden or masked in the public storm water drainage system. A useful prevention tool the Council uses regularly is the taking-in-charge process whereby the Council assesses the stormwater drainage system of a housing estate to be taken-in-charge for surface water quality before coming into public ownership.

Basic measures prevention and improvement work that fall under the WFD and set out in more detail in the national River Basin Management Plan 2018-2021 include primarily septic tank inspection as required by the National Inspection Plan 2018-2021 and farm inspections under the European Communities (Good Agricultural Practices for the Protection of Waters) Regulations 2017. The Council in all of its discussions and interactions with the public and commercial sectors promotes good water quality practice.

The Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE project has recently commenced (www.dublinriverlife.ie ) and will not only identify and prevent pollution discharges at source but will also include nature based systems of water quality improvement by way of integrated constructed wetlands. This is a four-year multi discipline project part funded by the EU LIFE Fund Programme.