River Quality

Water quality in Dublin city's rivers and other water bodies

Dublin City Council routinely monitors water quality in the Rivers Camac, Dodder, Liffey, Mayne, Poddle, Santry and Tolka. Samples are taken approximately 12 times per year at approximately 80 locations around the city. Each river is sampled at several locations along its route through the city, as well as at major inflows to those rivers. This information provides Dublin City Council with valuable, long term information on the status of these rivers.

Water Framework Directive monitoring

In addition to the above monitoring, Dublin City Council carries out monitoring under the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Two types of monitoring occur under the WFD. The first is operational or surveillance monitoring, which is scheduled monitoring aimed at providing long and medium term trend analysis. The second takes the form of investigative monitoring, which is generally localised, short term and intensive. This type of monitoring is aimed at resolving a water pollution issue.