Swimming has been banned at Dollymount strand in Dublin Bay after a “suspected discharge” of sewage following heavy rainfall.
The restriction at the popular designated bathing area on North Bull Island will continue over the coming days.
Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin Donna Cooney criticised the way the alert was issued and Uisce Éireann for failing to indicate the source of the discharge.
“This is disgraceful at the start of the bathing season,” she said.
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She said alerts about bathing restrictions needed to be more widely disseminated, as she had found people swimming on the beach despite the measure being in place.
Cllr Cooney, a member of the Green Party, said she received an alert to confirm water quality at the beach was “excellent” on May 26th, but got no notice about the recent restriction.
She said the utility company should have indicated where the discharge happened, given that real-time monitoring is supposed to be taking place at its Ringsend wastewater treatment plant.
Ms Cooney is a regular swimmer at Dollymount and at the Bull Wall Ladies Shelter.
She said she was concerned the discharge would lead to algal blooms as seawater warmed in the coming weeks, which would affect swimmers, water sports activities and marine life in the bay.
Discharges have occurred intermittently from the plant, which has been operating at excess capacity for many years.
Uisce Éireann said the discharge arose due to overflows from storm tanks at the Ringsend plant.
“There is online monitoring of these storm tanks and Dublin City Council, who are responsible for monitoring of bathing water quality, are notified of any overflows during the bathing season,” said a spokesman.
“Stormwater overflows are an essential part of any wastewater network that enable excess flows to be discharged into the sea, rivers or watercourses in a controlled and regulated manner ... Stormwater discharges normally do not have a lasting effect on bathing waters,” he added.
“The tide will wash out the spill and the salt water and sunlight acts to clean the water. Uisce Éireann apologises for any inconvenience caused and regrets the impact overflow incidents may have on beach users.”
Uisce Éireann is investing more than €500 million to upgrade the plant so it can serve a 2.4 million population equivalent by the end of 2025.
“The upgrade of Ringsend means the capacity will be increased and these incidents will be fewer in number, although in extreme weather conditions they could still occur,” said the spokesman.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Health Service Executive have been informed, while the council, which erected notices at Dollymount, said it is awaiting laboratory results to determine whether the temporary prohibition can be lifted.
