Council Seeking Help to Pinpoint Bathing Waters

Cooling Down:  A swimmer takes the plunge. Now councils are asking people to let them know what they think of where they swim. ©Photograph: John Reidy
Cooling Down: A swimmer takes the plunge. Now councils are asking people to let them know what they think of where they swim. ©Photograph: John Reidy

Kerry County Council is seeking the assistance of the public in identifying bathing waters in the county. Local authorities must identify official bathing spots in their area every year so that they can be monitored for safety, water quality and their level of use.

Kerry County Council is asking people who swim at beaches, lakes and rivers to tell them if they think they should maintain existing bathing waters designations or give a new official bathing area designation to areas that are commonly used for swimming, but not identified at the moment.

Stringent Standards

Under European and Irish law, local authorities must identify bathing waters each year so that these areas can be monitored to ensure they meet stringent microbiological water quality standards. In some cases, the official bathing areas are also the areas where local authorities focus their resources providing lifeguards during the summer season.

These laws also require that the local authority prepares detailed descriptions or profiles for each of the identified bathing water sites that describe not just the bathing area but also areas in the surface waters catchment area that could be a source of pollution. The profiles include an assessment the risk of pollution and what action would be taken if pollution occurs.

Bathing Areas

Regular swimmers wishing to assist Kerry County Council in deciding which bathing areas should be classified as such should consider the following:  How your swimming area has been used up to now; How many people use the site; What facilities exist at the site and how accessible it is; any safety issues.

If you wish to propose your favourite beach/river etc as a new bathing water site or comment on an existing site please contact Kerry County Council, Environmental Services on 066 71 62000 or email environ@kerrycoco.ie

The closing date for submissions to Kerry County Council is July 28th. 2016.