Water Environmental Indicators Ireland 2018

3.1 Ireland: Bathing water quality 1998-2017

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3.1 Ireland Bathing water quality 1998-2017

	Sufficient water quality	Good water quality
1998	98.4615384615385	80.7692307692308
1999	98.4615384615385	89.2307692307692
2000	98.4615384615385	91.5384615384615
2001	97.7099236641221	87.7862595419847
2002	97.7099236641221	84.7328244274809
2003	96.9465648854962	84.7328244274809
2004	97.7099236641221	87.7862595419847
2005	96.1832061068702	90.8396946564885
2006	96.9465648854962	90.0763358778626
2007	96.9465648854962	80.1526717557252
2008	93.1297709923664	77.8625954198473
2009	93.1297709923664	82.4427480916031
2010	96.9	90.1
2011	98.5	83
2012	97	66.9
2013	96.8	84.4
2014	94.1	86.7
2015	93.4	83.2
2016	92.9	85.8
2017	93	84.5

During the 1998-2017 period, more than 80% of sites in Ireland had good bathing water quality except for 2012 when only 66.9% of bathing water sites had good water quality. The 2012 figure was mainly due to an extremely wet summer and below average sunshine.
In 2017 84.5% of bathing water sites had good water quality and 93% sufficient water quality.

3.2 EU: Bathing water quality 2016

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	Compliance with guide values
Austria	100
Luxembourg	100
Malta	100
Romania	100
Slovenia	100
Belgium	99.1150442477876
Cyprus	99.1150442477876
Bulgaria	98.936170212766
Germany	97.7748691099476
Greece	97.7302204928664
Italy	97.2272562522653
Portugal	97.0639032815199
Denmark	96.8146718146718
Spain	96.5769055225924
United Kingdom	96.513470681458
Lithuania	96.4912280701754
EU	96.3221514242879
Croatia	96.2065331928346
France	95.2664483477225
Finland	95.0166112956811
Netherlands	94.7075208913649
Estonia	94.4444444444444
Ireland	92.8571428571429
Latvia	92.8571428571429
Czech Republic	92.2077922077922
Poland	90.0497512437811
Sweden	88.963963963964
Slovakia	87.8787878787879
Hungary	83.399209486166

Ireland had the seventh worst bathing water quality in the EU in 2016 when 92.9% of sites were classified as complying with guide values (and therefore considered as being of sufficient water quality). The EU average compliance rate was 96.3% in 2016.

3.3 Ireland: Drinking water quality 2005-2016

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3.2 Ireland: Drinking water quality 2005-2016

	Compliance of public water supplies with THM standard	Compliance of public group water supplies with THM standard	Compliance of private group water supplies with THM standard
2005	96.2	98.3	99.7
2006	95.7	98.1	98.8
2007	97.3	98.7	99
2008	96.4	97.6	99.4
2009	87.4	70.4	89.4
2010	89.3	76.2	85.5
2011	91	87.1	93.6
2012	87	60.3	93.8
2013	92.1	79.8	94.4
2014	93	93.1	93.3
2015	91.5	87.2	95.7
2016	93.1	95.7	90.9

The quality of public water supplies as measured by compliance with E. Coli standards has increased from an annual average of 99.4% in 2005-2009 to 99.9% in 2016. Compliance of Public Group Water Supplies has increased from 99.1% to 99.9%, while compliance of Private Group Water Supplies has increased from 85.6% to 98.4% over the same period.
The compliance rate of Public Water Supplies for trihalomethanes (THM) has decreased from an annual average of 94.6% in 2005-2009 to 93.1% in 2016. The compliance rate of Public Group Water Supplies increased from 92.6% to 95.7%, while the compliance rate of Private Group Water Supplies fell from 97.3% to 90.9% over the same period. The reduction in compliance rates for THM reflects a tightening of the standards in 2008 from 150µg/l (micrograms per litre) to 100µg/l.

3.4 Ireland: Urban waste water treatment 1997-2016

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3.3 Ireland: Urban waste water treatment 1997-2016

	No treatment/Preliminary treatment	Primary treatment	Secondary treatment	Secondary treatment with nutrient reduction
1997	46	28	22	4
1999	36	38	21	5
2001	30	41	21	8
2003	31	2	58	9
2005	16	2	70	12
2007	9	1	75	15
2009	6	1	78	15
2010	5.9	1.6	72.6	19.9
2011	5.7	1.6	72.1	20.6
2012	4.6	1.5	71.1	22.8
2013	4.6	1.7	67.8	26
2014	4.6	1.2	68.6	25.7
2015	4.2	1	68.3	26.5
2016	2.7	1.3	69.4	26.6

There has been a significant improvement in the level of treatment of urban waste water in agglomerations of over 500 persons. In 2016, 27% of urban waste water received secondary treatment with nutrient reduction, compared with only 4% in 1997. Only 3% of urban waste water received either no treatment or only preliminary treatment in 2016 compared with 46% in 1997.

3.5 Ireland: River water quality 1987-2015

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3.4 Ireland: River water quality 1987-2015

	Unpolluted	Slightly polluted	Moderately polluted	Seriously polluted
1987-1990	77.3	12	9.7	0.9
1991-1994	71.2	16.8	11.4	0.6
1995-1997	66.9	18.2	14	0.9
1998-2000	69.7	17.1	12.4	0.8
2001-2003	69.3	17.9	12.3	0.6
2004-2006	71.4	18.1	10	0.5
2007-2009	68.9	20.7	10	0.4
2010-2012	72.8	17.5	9.6	0.1
2013-2015	68.9241879799637	20.0025107164498	11.0264595787767	0.460922572127825

The proportion of unpolluted river water in Ireland fell from 77.3% in 1987-1990 to 68.9% in 2013-2015.
The proportion of slightly polluted river water has increased from 12% in 1987-1990 to 20% in 2013-2015.
The proportion of moderately polluted river water decreased from 14% in 1995-1997 to 9.6% in 2010-2012 before increasing to 11% in 2013-2015.
The level of seriously polluted river water has remained at less than 1% over the 1987-2015 period.

3.6 Ireland: Nitrates in groundwater 1995-2016

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3.5 Ireland: Nitrates in groundwater 1995-2016

There was an improvement in groundwater quality in Ireland as measured by the amount of nitrates detected by monitoring stations over the 1995-2016 period. The number of samples with less than 5 mg/l NO₃ (milligrams per litre of nitrates) in groundwater increased from 16% in 1995-1997 to 24% in 2015-2016.
The proportion of samples between 5 and 10 mg/l also increased from 16% to 21% over this period.
In contrast, the number of samples with more than 10 mg/l fell from 69% in 1995-1997 to 55% in 2015-2016.

3.7 EU: Chemical status of groundwater bodies 2015

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	Unknown	Poor	Good
Latvia	0	0	100
Ireland	0	1	99
Croatia	0	1.51965879359163	98.4803412064084
Austria	0	1.63591302899034	98.3640869710097
Portugal	0.0426771367908927	2.67052183469011	97.286801028519
Netherlands	0	3.70991144243758	96.2900885575624
Estonia	0	4.88724132744694	95.1127586725531
Slovenia	0	5.6472675306756	94.3527324693244
Sweden	0	6.14026410801721	93.8597358919828
Poland	0	7.78516433851105	92.2148356614889
Finland	7.03109327983952	4.57372116349047	88.39518555667
Cyprus	0	11.9318181818182	88.0681818181818
Romania	0	13.4650714701797	86.5349285298203
Hungary	0	17.2496781576312	82.7503218423688
Denmark	1.95833692003099	19.6264095721787	78.4152535077903
France	0	25.3965349444649	74.6034650555351
Spain	0.0276762667540258	30.8347500946076	69.1375736386383
Germany	0.108854395708802	37.4991177636258	62.3920278406654
Slovakia	22.8394264306937	17.0740214442578	60.0865521250484
Italy	7.87176343846354	34.1075077083101	58.0207288532263
Bulgaria	0	44.7279651452387	55.2720348547613
United Kingdom	0	48.9047888304119	51.0952111695881
Czech Republic	0	62.724795640327	37.275204359673
Belgium	0	63.4208387271578	36.5791612728422
Luxemburg	0	78.9364640883978	21.0635359116022
Malta	0	96.9187675070028	3.0812324929972

Latvia was the EU Member State with the highest percentage area of groundwater bodies classified as of good quality chemical status in 2015 at 100%. Ireland had the next highest area classified as of good status at 99%. Malta was the EU Member State with the lowest percentage area of groundwater bodies classified as of good quality status, at 3.1% in 2015.

Table 3.1 Ireland: Bathing water quality 1998-2017
% of total sites surveyed
Year	Sufficient water quality	Good water quality
1998-1999	98.5%	85.0%
2000-2004	97.7%	87.3%
2005-2009	95.3%	84.3%

2010	96.9%	90.1%
2011	98.5%	83.0%
2012	97.0%	66.9%
2013	96.8%	84.4%
2014	94.1%	86.7%
2015	93.4%	83.2%
2016	92.9%	85.8%
2017	93.0%	84.5%
Source: Environmental Protection Agency

Table 3.2 Ireland: Drinking water quality 2005-2016
% of samples
Compliance with E.coli standard				Compliance with THM standard
Year	Public water supplies	Public group water supplies	Private group water supplies	Public water supplies	Public group water supplies	Private group water supplies
2005-2009	99.4%	99.1%	85.6%	94.6%	92.6%	97.3%

2010	99.8%	99.5%	95.9%	89.3%	76.2%	85.5%
2011	99.9%	99.7%	96.7%	91.0%	87.1%	93.6%
2012	99.9%	99.9%	98.2%	87.0%	60.3%	93.8%
2013	99.9%	99.9%	97.6%	92.1%	79.8%	94.4%
2014	99.9%	100.0%	97.9%	93.0%	93.1%	93.3%
2015	99.9%	100.0%	98.5%	91.5%	87.2%	95.7%
2016	99.9%	99.9%	98.4%	93.1%	95.7%	90.9%
Source: Environmental Protection Agency

Table 3.4 Ireland: River water quality 1987-2015
% of channel length surveyed
Year	Unpolluted	Slightly polluted	Moderately polluted	Seriously polluted
1987-1990	77.3%	12.0%	9.7%	0.9%
1991-1994	71.2%	16.8%	11.4%	0.6%
1995-1997	66.9%	18.2%	14.0%	0.9%
1998-2000	69.7%	17.1%	12.4%	0.8%
2001-2003	69.3%	17.9%	12.3%	0.6%
2004-2006	71.4%	18.1%	10.0%	0.5%
2007-2009	68.9%	20.7%	10.0%	0.4%
2010-2012	72.8%	17.5%	9.6%	0.1%
2013-2015	68.9%	20.0%	11.0%	0.5%
Source: Environmental Protection Agency

Environmental Indicators Ireland 2018

Water

3.1 Ireland: Bathing water quality 1998-2017

3.2 EU: Bathing water quality 2016

3.3 Ireland: Drinking water quality 2005-2016

3.4 Ireland: Urban waste water treatment 1997-2016

3.5 Ireland: River water quality 1987-2015

3.6 Ireland: Nitrates in groundwater 1995-2016

3.7 EU: Chemical status of groundwater bodies 2015

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Table 3.3 Ireland: Urban waste water treatment 1997-2016
% waste water treated
Year	No treatment/ preliminary treatment	Primary treatment	Secondary treatment	Secondary treatment with nutrient reduction
1997	46%	28%	22%	4%
1999	36%	38%	21%	5%
2001	30%	41%	21%	8%
2003	31%	2%	58%	9%
2005	16%	2%	70%	12%
2007	9%	1%	75%	15%
2009	6%	1%	78%	15%
2010	6%	2%	73%	20%
2011	6%	2%	72%	21%
2012	5%	2%	71%	23%
2013	5%	2%	68%	26%
2014	5%	1%	69%	26%
2015	4%	1%	68%	27%
2016	3%	1%	69%	27%
Source: Environmental Protection Agency

Table 3.5 Ireland: Nitrates in groundwater 1995-2016
mg/l NO₃ (% of total)
Year	< 5	5 - 10	10 - 25	25 - 37.5	37.5 - 50	> 50
1995-1997	16%	16%	49%	13%	4%	3%
1998-2000	19%	15%	46%	13%	5%	3%
2001-2003	16%	16%	47%	12%	8%	2%
2004-2006	17%	12%	49%	11%	10%	2%
2007-2009	22%	19%	41%	13%	4%	1%
2010-2012	25%	19%	43%	11%	3%	0%
2013-2014	26%	19%	39%	12%	3%	1%
2015-2016	24%	21%	37%	13%	3%	2%
Source: Environmental Protection Agency