The weekend is to be warm, so it's great news that: Local bathing waters ‘good' or ‘excellent'
Temperatures of up to 19 degrees Celsius are forecast for the Mullingar area over the weekend.
Today we have 18 Celsius and a light breeze from the north east.
Tomorrow, we should have 19 Celsius by around teatime, though there is a risk of showers in the morning.
Sunday is to remain warm, around 18 Celsius, but it will be cloudy, and for Monday the prediction is the same, but with showers.
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The three designated bathing waters in Westmeath are classified as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, in the ‘Bathing Water Quality in Ireland – a report for the year 2017’ from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The bathing waters at Portnashangan and The Cut are classified as ‘excellent’ in the EPA assessment methodology based on the previous four years of monitoring results.
Lilliput showed much improved water quality in 2018 and is now classified as ‘good’, based on 2016 and 2017 data.
“Lilliput showed much improved in quality since 2015 due to remedial actions to remove wastewater discharges,” the EPA report stated.
Lilliput is included in the report on a list that follows this paragraph: “In addition to those waters currently classified in 2017 as ‘Poor’, there are several waters currently achieving Good or Sufficient quality, or which have been classified as Sufficient in previous years, which still have the potential for achieving a Poor classification because of pollution impacts. This list is not exclusive but includes the following beaches. In each case the most likely pollution source is also identified based on the bathing water profiles and management plans.”
In the case of Lilliput the “likely pollution source(s)” are identified as “sewage discharges /birds”.
Feedback to council
Westmeath County Council encourages public participation in relation to the establishment, review and updating of lists of bathing waters in Westmeath (in accordance with the Bathing Water Quality Regulations 2008), and is asking people who swim at lakes and rivers in the county to tell it if they think these areas should maintain their existing bathing water designations or if areas that are commonly used for swimming, but not identified at the moment, should be given a new official bathing area designation.
Submissions by email to westmeathbathingwaters@westmeathcoco.ie or by post to: Senior Engineer, Water Services and Environment, Westmeath County Council, Áras an Chontae, Mount Street, Mullingar, County Westmeath, N91 FH4N.