I WATER SERVICES
Ireland Below International Standards in Urban Waste Water Treatment Nearly half of Ireland’s wastewater treatment plants serving urban centres are failing to achieve national and EU standards, according to a new report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). he report, the eighth in the series, is the first review of the operation of waste water treatment plants at 529 urban areas since they became subject to a new licensing regime being rolled out by the EPA. The report, entitled ‘Focus on Urban Waste Water Discharges in Ireland’, finds that 46% of waste water treatment plants did not meet all waste water quality standards or EPA guidelines. Furthermore, eleven large urban areas do not meet the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) requirement to have secondary treatment in place. These include, for example, Bray and Ringaskiddy where the provision of treatment is now ten years overdue; Clifden, where the old plant is impacting on bathing water; and Moville where discharges are causing serious pollution to the River Bredagh.
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Further Investment Required “This level of performance is poor and needs to improve,” remarks Gerard O’Leary, Programme Manager, in the EPA’s Office of Environmental Enforcement. “In order to meet EU targets further investment in infrastructure is
The EU Water Framework Directive requires
required and we need a step change in the operation and maintenance of these valuable assets.” The report also reveals that eight urban areas do not meet the UWWTD requirement to provide nutrient reduction in addition to secondary treatment for discharges to sensitive water areas by specified dates. Because these relate to more sensitive environments a higher level of treatment is required – in these cases, nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen have to be removed. Areas affected include the cities of Cork, Dublin and Kilkenny. The EPA expects that by 2015 the necessary treatment will be in place for the large urban centres with work to be completed by the relevant local authorities. Dara Lynott, Director, Office of Environmental Enforcement, comments: “Meeting our EU targets will require substantial and sustained investment. However, the benefits of such investment extend beyond water quality, as clean water is a pre-requisite for our tourism, food, agriculture and manufacturing industries.” Significant Improvement Since the EPA’s last report, there has been significant improvement in the monitoring of waste water treatment plants. In 2007, 112 plants did not take sufficient samples; this figure has reduced to 38 in the current report. “We are pleased to see this increase in monitoring – that was an area we highlighted in the last report. The issues we are highlighting today, in particular, operation and maintenance, now need to be prioritised in the coming years,” Dara Lynott adds.
member states to take a holistic approach to managing their water resources. It applies to rivers, lakes, groundwater, estuaries and coastal waters. Member States must aim to achieve good status in all waters by 2015 and must ensure that status does not deteriorate in any waters.
Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) has requirements for sewerage systems (or waste water collec-
tion systems) to be provided and sets deadlines for the provision of sewage treatment. The main requirements of the UWWTD are: • Scheduled provision of waste water collecting systems and treatment plants based on the size of the agglomeration and the type of water body to which the waste water is discharged (freshwater, estuarine or coastal, sensitive or non-sensitive). • Monitoring by water services authorities (including frequency of monitoring) of discharges from waste water treatment plants. The EU urban waste water treatment Directive requires compliance with waste water quality standards and typically, twelve samples per year are required from each plant. Each sample must comply with individual quality standards set for three parameters BOD, COD and SS. There are additional requirements for discharges to nutrient sensitive waters. I
ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY MANAGEMENT, MAY/JUNE 2012
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