50 signatures reached
To: • Uisce Éireann • The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications • The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage •The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Solution not Pollution - Real Time Sewage Discharge Monitoring
Live monitoring of all sewage discharges to inform future infrastructural development, capacity planning and public health environmental protection.
Why is this important?
Ireland Needs Real-Time Reporting of Sewer Discharges - Just Like the UK
Across Ireland, rivers, lakes, estuaries, bathing and coastal waters are being polluted by regular storm overflows and sewer discharges, yet the public has no way to see when or where these events occur. Unlike the UK, Ireland has no national, real-time monitoring system to tell communities when their local waters are contaminated.
Under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations and Directives, Uisce Éireann and sanitary authorities are already legally required to monitor wastewater discharges and assess their impacts on receiving waters. But many overflows have no monitors or are not up to code. Without transparent, real-time reporting, these obligations are not meaningfully met, and the public remains unaware of pollution events happening in their own communities.
Why This Matters
- We can’t plan future wastewater capacity without accurate overflow data.
Ireland cannot model infrastructure needs or comply with the Water Framework Directive if it does not quantify the true scale and frequency of sewer overflows. Real-time and historical data on CSOs are essential for evidence-based planning, upgrading the network, and preventing future pollution crises. - Public health and the environment are at risk.
Untreated storm overflows often contain sewage, agricultural runoff, chemicals, and pathogens. They threaten bathing waters, drinking-water sources, shellfish areas, fisheries, wildlife, and recreation. - The technology already exists.
The UK’s publicly accessible monitoring platforms — such as the National Storm Overflow Hub — show that real-time reporting is fully achievable and enormously beneficial for communities. see: https://www.streamwaterdata.co.uk/pages/the-national-storm-overflow-hub - Transparency builds trust.
Citizens deserve to know when their local waters are unsafe. Real-time data empowers swimmers, anglers, families, fishers, environmental groups, and local authorities to make informed decisions.
We, the undersigned, call on Uisce Éireann and the Irish Government to:
1. Fully comply with statutory obligations
Ensure comprehensive monitoring of all wastewater discharges, including storm overflows and combined sewer overflows, as required under Irish and EU law.
2. Create a national, public, real-time reporting system
Build an open-access online platform (like the UK system) showing:
1. Fully comply with statutory obligations
Ensure comprehensive monitoring of all wastewater discharges, including storm overflows and combined sewer overflows, as required under Irish and EU law.
2. Create a national, public, real-time reporting system
Build an open-access online platform (like the UK system) showing:
- when and where overflows occur,
- their duration and estimated volumes, and
- the type of discharge (untreated, partially treated, stormwater, etc.).
3. Use this data to plan for future capacity
Commit to using real, measured overflow data to identify system weaknesses, inform capital investment, and meet long-term obligations under the Water Framework Directive and climate-resilience planning.
4. Protect our rivers, lakes, and coasts
Reduce harmful discharges and ensure the public can see in real time when pollution events occur.
Ireland deserves clean water, transparent reporting, and evidence-based planning.
We urge Uisce Éireann and the Irish Government to act now.