The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 may have had an impact on the trend in some of the indicators (such as emissions to air, transport and energy) in this publication.
During the 2000-2022 period more than 80% of bathing sites surveyed in Ireland had good water quality, except for 2008 and 2012. In 2022, 93% of bathing water sites surveyed had good water quality and 97% had sufficient water quality.
| Year | Sufficient water quality | Good water quality |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 2018 | 94.5 | 86.2 |
| 2019 | 95.2 | 89.1 |
| 2020 | 95.9 | 89.2 |
| 2021 | 97.3 | 90.5 |
| 2022 | 97.3 | 92.6 |
The quality of public water supplies as measured by compliance with E.coli standards increased from 98.9% in 2004 to 100% in 2022. Compliance of public group water supplies increased from 96.2% in 2004 to 100% in 2022, while compliance of private group water supplies has increased from 78.1% to 98.6% over the same period.
The compliance rate of public water supplies for trihalomethanes (THM) has increased from 87.4% in 2009 to 95.6% in 2022. The compliance rate of public group water supplies increased from 70.4% in 2009 to 92.3% in 2022, while the compliance of private group water supplies increased from 89.4% to 95.0% over the same period.
| Year | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 2017 | 94.3 | 96.6 | 96 |
| 2018 | 95.1 | 87.9 | 95.1 |
| 2019 | 96.1 | 89.2 | 97.5 |
| 2020 | 97.3 | 89.4 | 93.5 |
| 2021 | 95.3 | 82.61 | 93.75 |
| 2022 | 95.64 | 92.26 | 95 |
There has been a significant improvement in the level of treatment of urban waste water. In 2022 just 1% of urban waste water received no treatment compared with 46% in 1997. The proportion of urban waste water receiving secondary treatment increased from 22% to 58% over this period. In 2022 40% of waste water received secondary treatment with nutrient reduction, up from 4% in 1997.
| Year | No treatment | Primary treatment | Secondary treatment | Secondary treatment with nutrient reduction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-1999 | 41 | 33 | 21.5 | 4.5 |
| 2000-2004 | 30.5 | 21.5 | 39.5 | 8.5 |
| 2005-2009 | 10.3333333333333 | 1.33333333333333 | 74.3333333333333 | 14 |
| 2010-2014 | 5.08 | 1.52 | 70.44 | 23 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2015 | 4.2 | 1 | 68.3 | 26.5 |
| 2016 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 69.4 | 26.6 |
| 2017 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 66.6 | 30 |
| 2018 | 1.54 | 1.03 | 67.24 | 30.18 |
| 2019 | 1.44 | 1 | 67.17 | 30.39 |
| 2020 | 1.41 | 1.01 | 63.79 | 33.79 |
| 2021 | 1.13 | 0.98 | 58.95 | 38.95 |
| 2022 | 1.08 | 0.94 | 58.44 | 39.53 |
There was a mixed picture concerning river water quality in Ireland in recent decades. The percentage of rivers and streams with bad or poor water quality decreased between 1987 and 2021. In 2019-2021 17% of rivers and streams were of bad or poor quality compared with 25% in 1987-1990.
The percentage of rivers and streams with good or moderate water quality increased over the 1987-2021 period from 49% to 67%.
However, the proportion of rivers and streams with high water quality declined from 27% in 1987-1990 to 16% in 2019-2021.
The proportion of samples with low volumes of nitrates (less than 5 mg/l NO3 milligrams per litre of nitrates) in groundwater increased from an average annual 16% in 1995-1997 to 23% in 2022. The percentage of samples with 5-10 mg/l N02 also increased from 16% to 22% over the same period.
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