With summer rapidly approaching, the country’s dog owners are being encouraged to leave only paw prints in the sand and pick up after their pets when using the country’s beaches.
Bathing Water Quality
The UCD Acclimatize Project has identified dog faeces as an important cause of water pollution, which can result in temporary bathing prohibition notices being issued by local authorities. In an effort to address this issue, the UCD Acclimatize team has released an animated video today, Monday, 9th May, entitled ‘Leave Only Pawprints’ illustrating the direct link between dog fouling and poor beach water quality. They want to highlight the potential harm caused by the abandoned dog mess and encourage pet owners to take responsibility for cleaning up after their dogs on the beach to help ensure better water quality for all to enjoy. For more information on this initiative log onto www.acclimatize.eu/dogs.
Monitoring for the 2024 bathing season commenced on the 22nd May 2024 and will continue until mid September 2024. Sligo County Council will sample the bathing water at Enniscrone, Rosses Point, Streedagh, Dunmoran and Mullaghmore at least every 14 days during the bathing season.
Analysis of the bacterial count in the bathing water will be used to indicate the quality of the water and check that the levels of bacteria in the water are in accordance with the EU Bathing Water Directive parameters and Blue Flag water quality standards. The parameters tested are E.Coli and Intestinal Enterococci. The water quality of each sample is assessed as either ‘Excellent’, ‘Good’, ‘Sufficient’ or ‘Poor’. These limits are qualitative and take account of regulatory limits set out in the Bathing Water Regulations 2008.
The significance of the results is explained in the table below. In addition, trigger values have been agreed nationally with the HSE and EPA to protect public health. Bathers will be advised using local beach signage if there is a risk to public health arising from a breach of these trigger values, or bathers can check www.beaches.ie for the latest updates.
What do the results mean?
| Parameter | Individual Sample Status | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Excellent |
Good |
Sufficient |
Poor |
|
| E. Coli | ≤ 250 | 251 - 500 | 501 - 1000 | > 1000 |
| Intestinal Enterococci | ≤ 100 | 101 - 200 | 201 - 250 | > 250 |
Blue Flag Beaches in County Sligo
- Rosses Point
- Enniscrone
Green Coast Award Beaches in Co Sligo
- Dunmoran Strand
- Enniscrone
- Rosses Point
- Streedagh
Click on the beach name below to check out the water quality during the 2024 bathing season at your local beach.
Designated Bathing Waters
Dunmoran Beach Water Quality (PDF) - 51 kbs 
Enniscrone Beach Water Quality (PDF) - 52 kbs
Streedagh Beach Water Quality (PDF) - 54 kbs
Undesignated Bathing Water - Quality Results
Dorrins Strand Water Quality (PDF) - 26 kbs
Enniscrone Pier Water Quality (PDF) - 27 kbs
Annual Water Quality Rating
The annual water quality rating is determined from results covering the previous four bathing seasons. This approach averages out the impacts of seasonal variations and takes account of the spread of results.
For more information please visit www.beaches.ie