City Council attempting to identify origin of discharges into Tramore River

Concerns have been raised over the wildlife and the water quality of the Tramore River following repeated reports of discharges being released in the water.

On September 1, Togher Tidy Towns shared a video of effluent being discharged into the Tramore River on the walk from Coffee’s Field to Turner’s Cross. A similar incident was reported at the weekend which has led to growing concerns surrounding the environmental impact on wildlife in the area.

Green Party Councillor Dan Boyle said it is happening far too frequently. Mr Boyle raised his concerns with city council officials who responded by saying:

“We understand this is a private storm water outfall into the river, and as such not the responsibility of Uisce Éireann.

“We were notified on 02/09/2026 of a discharge from the pipe which occurred on 01/09/2026. We went to the site immediately and there were no signs of a discharge. Since then, we carried out investigations and dye tracing to understand the contributing storm network, which is in private property.” 

“Identifying the source of discharges can be extremely challenging. It could be that a premises is washing something from their yard into a storm drain or gully. It could also be a misconnection into the storm drain. Often there is little evidence after the event and can only be traced while active to identify the source.”

 “We are continuing our investigation, and our crew are visiting site again following the latest incident (12/09/2026) which was reported to us. We will also be speaking with businesses in the area to understand their recent activities to see if this is linked to the discharges.” 

Togher Tidy Towns have asked that any such incidents be reported swiftly.

“Please contact us or the Inland Fisheries Board 0818 347 424 immediately if you see this or something similar in the river at the coordinates of 51.87432° north. 8. 48073° West," they urged.