Low water levels on the River Corrib have revealed untreated sewage flowing freely into the city’s estuary in front of Claddagh Quay after weeks of repair work was completed.
Video footage recorded by the Advertiser this week show ducks swarming an outlet where human waste and sanitary materials are clearly present in a cloudy brown stream emerging from what is thought to be a storm water overflow pipe in front of St Mary’s Church, Claddagh.
Galway City Council closed Priory Road for essential sewer repair and installation of new manhole covers from May 17 to June 7, while Claddagh Quay was closed to traffic from early April to May 17 to allow Irish Water contractors upgrade underground infrastructure.
In a statement, Galway City Council says its Environment Section has contacted Uisce Éireann “in relation to the ongoing issue in this location.” It is understood recent foul water at Claddagh Quay was first reported by a member of the public on Friday, May 17.
An Uisce Éireann spokeswoman said the utility recently surveyed two pipes running from the Long Walk to Claddagh Quay which transport flows from Athenry and Galway city on to the Mutton Island wastewater treatment plant. These pipes are in “good condition” but it received a complaint on Monday, June 17.
“The discharge that occurred from the Claddagh Quay SWO (Storm Water Overflow ) was due to a restriction on the network. Uisce Éireann operatives addressed the restriction, allowing flows to pass forward through the network as normal which ceased the uncontrolled discharge.”
The local committee of heritage group An Taisce says pollution of the Inner Galway Bay Special Area of Conservation has been occurring sporadically at this point, and also directly across the river at The Long Walk, for at least 17 years. Heavy rainfall is thought to be the main culprit, but also unauthorised foul water connections to storm drains. A spokesman said several issues remain unaddressed.
“The question now for the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency ) is, how long has this discharge being going on for – a month? What volume has been released? And why does it seem like the city council is relying on members of the public tweeting images to report issues, when [officials] previously told councillors they had installed pollution detectors? Surely these pipes should be inspected by staff on their weekly checklist?”
An Taisce says its detailed research shows these discharges into Galway Bay at the mouth of the Corrib, into Oranmore Bay and at Murrough, show predictable links between poor bathing water quality at Ballyloughane and Grattan beaches when rainfall causes storm drains to overflow. Its research indicates that rainfall well below the baseline approved in Uisce Éireann’s licence from the Environmental Protection Agency is causing overflow pipes to eject combined storm water and foul water into the sea regularly.
In its response, Uisce Éireann said no pipelines were damaged during recent separate works at the Claddagh, which form part of its Galway City Drainage Area Plan (DAP ). “The outputs from the Galway City DAP will form the basis of Irish Water’s capital investment plans for the city. The plan is key to identifying the interventions required to address project drivers such as flooding, environmental compliance and catchment growth.”
