Newcastle has worst bathing water in Northern Ireland

Newcastle has worst bathing water in Northern Ireland

3 April 2013

WATER quality at Newcastle beach has again been found to be among Europe’s worst.

But hopes are high that a multi-million pound investment at the town’s sewage treatment plant will ensure that the resort’s picturesque beach will in future meet rigorous water quality standards.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) confirmed last week that Newcastle beach was the only one in Northern Ireland to fail stringent EU monitoring standards.

Located at the foothills of the Mournes, the beach was found to be contaminated in part by overflowing sewage pipes and increased discharged from farm waste.

Heavy rain and flooding last summer is also being blamed for contaminating the beach which was the only one of Northern Ireland’s 23 beaches that failed to meet European standards for bathing in the MCS-compiled Good Beach Guide.

Newcastle beach has failed to meet basic European standards four times over the past eight years and while millions of pounds have been invested over recent years redeveloping the promenade and Main Street areas, concern remains about the continued failure of the town’s beach to meet water quality standards.

MCS official, Robert Keirle, said property developers in the resort who by-pass the water treatment network in an attempt to cut costs have also contributed to the pollution level.

“Livestock waste from the fields behind Newcastle, a lack of capacity in Newcastle and misconnected plumbing all act together to drag down the water quality,” he revealed. “There are still a lot of combined sewage overflows that need attention.

“Farming is an important part of Northern Ireland’s economy, so although the problems with discharges from NI Water’s sewage treatment works have been largely addressed, this has now exposed the significant impact diffuse pollution from agriculture and urban areas is having on the Province’s coastal waters.”

NI Water is confident its multi-million pound investment in the resort will ensure Newcastle beach meets the required water quality standard by the end of May this year.

The organisation’s £7m investment at the resort’s sewage treatment plant is designed to improve the standard of treated effluent discharged into the sea at the harbour.

NI Water hopes the harbour investment, in addition to other work it has carried out to improve the sewerage network in Newcastle, will ensure the resort’s bathing water quality meets treatment standards.

The organisation has also confirmed that work to overhaul two pumping stations close to the treatment plant will be completed by the end of June. The work includes new electrical, pumping and odour control equipment.