Swimming is axed at festival

Swimming is axed at festival

30 July 2014

A SWIMMING event in Ardglass this weekend has been cancelled amid fears that dirty water could make competitors ill.

Organisers of Saturday afternoon’s races have pulled the plug on the harbour event, citing concerns about the quality of treated effluent discharged from the village’s sewage treatment plant as the main reason.

Northern Ireland Water is continuing to upgrade and extend the Sheepland Road plant as part of a £3.4m investment in the village, but Ardglass Festival Association festival officials are concerned the quality of the treated effluent being discharged has been downgraded.

Festival chairman, Mr. Gerry Casey, confirmed that in the interest of the health of potential entrants in the weekend swimming competition, the Association has “regretfully cancelled the event.”

He said while the original plan was for effluent discharged from the treatment plant to be of a quality suitable to allow safe swimming, this is no longer the case.

Mr. Casey said authorities have attempted to justify the decision to downgrade the quality of the treated effluent because beaches from Kilclief to Minerstown have not been recognised as achieving EU bathing water standards. He said a campaign is currently being spearheaded by the Ardglass Development Association in an attempt to have the original water quality agreed for the Ardglass plant restored.

“This principally involves providing evidence that local beaches are used by the public for a range of leisure activities such as swimming, paddling, playing or relaxing on the beaches, or even simply rambling along the shores,” said Mr. Casey.

“As organisers of the village festival, we can’t have people jumping into the water this weekend for a swimming race which could result in water getting into competitor’s mouths, potentially making them ill. It is simply a risk we are not prepared to take.”

Mr. Casey confirmed that while the weekend swimming event has been cancelled, scheduled raft races as part of the annual festival will go ahead as competitors will be wearing wet suits and spend a relatively short time in the water.

He added: “The Festival Association has concerns about the water quality and has taken the decision to cancel the swimming event as a result.”

A spokeswoman for NI Water said the organisation has commenced sewerage upgrade work in the Ardglass area, including modifications to the Seaview wastewater pumping station and a new sewer to link this facility with the village’s treatment plant as part of the investment which will deliver “significant environmental improvements for the Ardglass area.”

She said the new treatment works houses infrastructure to facilitate preliminary, primary and secondary treatment as well as storm water storage facilities.

The spokeswoman added: “The extended treatment process will provide a more robust solution and ensure a cleaner discharge to the Irish Sea in line with Environment Agency requirements. Construction on the site is ongoing and on target with the programme.”

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said the construction of a replacement treatment plant is underway, with the upgrade resulting in what he described as a “significant improvement in the quality of the effluent discharged.”