Catchment News

Home News Dog fouling impacts on bathing water quality

Dog fouling impacts on bathing water quality

Why dog business has no business being at the beach?

A stony beach with gentle waves breaking on the shore, scattered beachgoers relaxing and walking, and green hills and houses rising along the coastline.

A busy sandy beach on a sunny day with people sitting and walking near the shoreline, backed by low dunes and overlooking a long stretch of shallow tidal water.

Around 1 in 4 households in Ireland own a dog – that’s over half a million of them and given that almost 80% of Ireland’s population lives within 20 miles of a beach there is a fair bet that many of those dogs will enjoy their day at the seaside.

Why Dog Restrictions Exist on Beaches

Many local authorities have in place restrictions or bye-laws on allowing dogs to access beaches particularly during the bathing season and at peak times for beach usage. This may seem a little harsh however the purpose is two-fold. In the first instance it is to reduce the nuisance risk caused by dogs being let off the leash and allowed to run free – especially when children are around. The second reason is related to the potential for dog fouling.

Most dog owners are responsible, bagging any dog poo and disposing of it in waste bins or dedicated poop bins which many local authorities have provided. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Despite the prospect of a fine of up to €150 under existing litter legislation, it is not uncommon to see some dog poo simply buried in the sand or hidden under stones with pet owners thinking perhaps, that it “eventually goes away” or is “too much work” to take it home or to the nearest poop bin.

The Hidden Risks of Dog Fouling

It may not seem like an important environmental concern, but dog poo can create much more damage than a mess on the bottom of your shoe. There are actually enough E.coli bacteria in one dog poo to contaminate an Olympic size swimming pool (around 3 million litres of water) to a level which would fail to meet the Excellent water quality standard. A single gram of dog poo can contain up to 23 million faecal coliform bacteria! Dog waste can also spread parasites such as hookworms, whipworms, roundworms, ringworms, tapeworms, Parvovirus and Salmonella.

Watch this video explaining the impact of dog poo on bathing water quality. Reference: Leave only Paw Prints – Acclimatize 2017-2023

Learn More

The Acclimatize 2017 – 2023 project looked into determining how much each of the pollution sources contribute to faecal pollution in Dublin Bay.

Download the Acclimatize Project report on The Impact of Dog Fouling on Bathing Water Quality in Dublin Bay

Beaches.ie provides up‑to‑date bathing water information. You can check your local bathing water, including whether dog restrictions apply during the bathing season and the current water quality status for over 200 Irish beaches.

People and wildlife and dogs – Irish Wildlife Trust

About author

EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.

Who is involved?
Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.