COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF TALLAGHT AREA COMMITTEE
Monday, October 23, 2023
QUESTION NO.
QUESTION: Councillor L. Sinclair
"That the Manager outlines what measures are being taken to investigate and resolve The Poddle's persistant pollution issues?"
REPLY:
South Dublin County Council received a report of pollution in the River Poddle on Friday 29th September. The Water Pollution Section attended the Park to assess the nature of the pollution and collect a sample. An assessment of the upstream stormwater drainage catchment was made, and a location was identified to be the likely source. It was determined the discharge was not from a fixed premises but rather a dump of material into the stormwater drainage system through a road gulley. A sample was also collected from this location.
A further assessment of the catchment was made on Saturday 30th September and Monday 2nd October with the aim of gathering additional evidence.
This type of water pollution has occurred in the past in the River Poddle and the Council had carried out incident investigations at those times. In response to those incidents the Council also implemented a catchment wide industrial misconnection investigation and found appropriately 25 misconnections [polluting points and sources] which have been repaired. However, the specific pollution source proved difficult to find and as eventually determined at the last incident to be a random dump to a roadside gully. After the most recent pollution event, the Council has identified the source and is implementing enforcement actions.
The Council were not aware of any noticeable impact on fish, and bird life in the Park seem to be largely unaffected by the recent incident. The Council will continue its investigation into this incident to prevent further such discharges.