Galway Bay fm newsroom - A new report from the Environmental Protection Agency has given a generally clean bill of health to Galway's bathing waters.
The 2021 Bathing Water Quality in Ireland report rates bathing waters as poor, sufficient, good or excellent.
No waters in Galway were classed as poor.
Trá na MBan in An Spidéal and Grattan Road Beach near Salthill were rated sufficient, while Ballyloughane Beach near Renmore; Traught, Kinvara; and Trá na bhForbacha, Furbo were classed as good.
The rest of the bathing water spots stretching from South Galway to North Connemara were rated as excellent quality.
The rest of the country
The Environmental Protection Agency's latest report shows 97 per cent of the 148 identified bathing waters met or exceeded the minimum required standard.
115 bathing waters were deemed to be of Excellent quality, up 4 from 2020.
But 2 bathing waters were Poor, down 2. These were Front Strand Beach in Balbriggan and Lady’s Bay in Buncrana.
Agriculture, urban waste water and fouling from dogs on beaches all impacted on the quality of bathing waters, while Irish Water needs to improve the operation, management and maintenance of treatment plants and networks which impact on them.
The EPA says local authorities must prioritise steps to improve the two beaches of Poor quality, and to increase the number of bathing waters at Good or Excellent.
