EPA lifts Lady’s Bay swimming ban after Buncrana water quality improves

Upgrades to the sewerage network in Buncrana has led to water quality improvements on the Shorefront beach

placeholder image — Upgrades to the sewerage network in Buncrana has led to water quality improvements on the Shorefront beach

Environmental Protection Agency removes four year restriction after improved test results exceed minimum standards

Bathing restrictions at Lady’s Bay, Buncrana’s shorefront beach, are set to be lifted after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reclassified water quality there from Poor to Sufficient.

The EPA, which has imposed a seasonal swimming ban since 2022 due to pollution at the beach, said testing carried out last summer showed sufficient improvement to allow the ban to be lifted for this summer.

Major upgrade works carried out by Uisce Éireann on Buncrana’s sewerage network - including the construction of new holding tanks on the Crana River at Westbrook and enhancements to the wastewater treatment plant on Railway Road - have contributed to the improved test results, with water samples taken every two weeks from June to September.

Previously, heavy rainfall would overwhelm holding tanks, causing stormwater and untreated sewage to spill into Lady’s Bay either from the mouths of nearby rivers or from the wastewater treatment plant itself. This led to high pollution levels that rendered swimming unsafe.

“Uisce Éireann undertook a major upgrade of the collection system to improve performance and increase storage capacity for wastewater collected during periods of heavy rainfall,” the EPA said in its Bathing Water Quality in Ireland report, published this week. “All samples taken during the 2025 season met or exceeded minimum quality criteria.”

Read more: Swimming ban put in place for 2025

While upgrades to Buncrana’s sewerage network were largely completed before water sampling began last summer, work at the wastewater treatment plant continued into the autumn. That work is now largely complete, meaning the full benefits of the improvements should be evident once water testing at the shorefront resumes later this month.

Lady’s Bay is not entirely out of the woods, however. While the “no swimming” advisory has been lifted, there is little margin for error. Last May, pollution in the aftermath of heavy rainfall returned the worst results in four years.

Bathing water quality is graded on a four-point scale - Excellent, Good, Sufficient and Poor - and Lady’s Bay has improved by just one category, moving from Poor to Sufficient.

Donegal beaches where water quality is tested throughout the summer. Blue symbols signify Excellent results, Green is good, and Yellow is sufficient.

Water quality testing is carried out throughout the summer season at 21 beaches across Donegal. Of those, 16 achieved Excellent status, four were rated Good, while the aforementioned Lady’s Bay received a Sufficient rating.

The beaches awarded Excellent status were Ballyhieran (Fanad), Bundoran, Carrickfinn, Culdaff, Dooey, Downings, Drumnatinny, Fintra, Killahoey, Magheraroarty, Marble Hill, Murvagh, Naran, Rossnowlagh and Strove.

Water quality was rated Good at Lisfannon, Portnablagh, Rathmullan and Portsalon - the latter dropping from the Excellent rating it had held for the previous three years.

Nationally, 98% of sampled sites (150 of 153) met or exceeded minimum required standards. Of those, 78% (120 bathing sites) achieved Excellent status.

Both Lady’s Bay and Sandymount Strand in Dublin have moved out of the Poor classification. However, one new bathing site - Dún Laoghaire Baths - returned a Poor result, which the EPA said was caused by wastewater overflows and dog fouling.