Donegal’s last raw-sewage dischargers face an early-2027 test

Two towns—Moville and Falcarragh—remain Donegal’s last raw-sewage dischargers, according to the EPA’s Urban Wastewater Treatment in 2025 report. Moville is also one of 13 towns and cities across Ireland that failed European Union standards intended to protect the environment.

What does the EPA finding show?

The EPA said delays in responding to equipment failures had, in some cases, resulted in untreated sewage entering the environment over extended periods.

Its clearest cited example came from Ballybofey-Stranorlar, where more than 9 million liters of untreated sewage were discharged over six days in 2025. The report said Uisce Éireann failed to respond promptly to the equipment breakdown. That works out to more than 1.5 million liters per day, averaged across the six-day period.

Pat Byrne, director of the EPA’s Office of Radiation Protection and Environmental Monitoring, said new treatment-plant investment was helping protect the environment and benefit communities in Ramelton, Rathmullan and Milford.

“EPA inspections continue to identify poor operational practices and inadequate maintenance of wastewater infrastructure, resulting in wastewater being discharged without proper treatment and adversely impacting water quality,” he said.

Byrne said many of those failures could and should have been prevented. He called on Uisce Éireann to take immediate and effective action.

The report therefore sets two conditions for improvement at once. Donegal needs the remaining treatment and network assets delivered, and Uisce Éireann needs to prevent avoidable failures, maintain completed infrastructure and respond promptly when equipment breaks. Either condition left unmet can keep wastewater treatment below the required standard.

Which projects are already operating?

Uisce Éireann’s response centered on what its 2025 investment delivered and what remains under construction. The utility said the €50 million Tirroddy development was completed during the year. It treats wastewater from Ramelton, Milford and Rathmullan through a modern, centralized system. Uisce Éireann described it as its largest single project delivered to date in County Donegal.

• Tirroddy — completed: New infrastructure in Ramelton and Rathmullan ended raw sewage discharge at both locations during 2025.
• Kilmacrennan, Carrigart and Mountcharles — nearing completion: Construction of new wastewater treatment infrastructure across the three locations is nearing completion.
• Twin Towns and Buncrana network — in delivery: Uisce Éireann has advanced a €31 million investment across the Twin Towns and Buncrana, including the wastewater network serving Ballybofey-Stranorlar. The works aim to reduce sewer-flooding risk, address non-compliant sewer overflows and add capacity for current and future growth. Uisce Éireann expects the works to finish in early 2027.

For wastewater planners, those statuses separate operating assets from projects still to come. Tirroddy has already added treatment and eliminated raw sewage discharge at two towns; the three other locations remain in construction. The network package targets sewer performance and capacity, so its 2027 completion cannot by itself answer the EPA’s findings on maintenance and response times.

What must the 2027 package change?

For a practitioner, the €31 million package changes operating risk at Ballybofey-Stranorlar and across the Twin Towns and Buncrana only when its stated functions work in service: less risk of sewer flooding, fewer non-compliant overflows and enough capacity for current and future growth. The early 2027 date is a completion milestone, not proof of compliance.

Niall Horgan, Uisce Éireann’s Wastewater Compliance Senior Manager, said: “The progress we are seeing in Co Donegal shows what sustained investment can deliver for communities and the environment. We have made significant progress in recent years, but we know there is more to do.”

That statement recognizes delivery gains without declaring the compliance problem over. A new plant can improve treatment, but the EPA’s examples show that unreliable operation can still send untreated sewage into the environment for days.

What decides the next phase?

Early 2027 is the next dated milestone for the €31 million network package. For Moville and Falcarragh, the nearer regulatory test is whether Uisce Éireann ends their remaining raw sewage discharges and brings performance within the European Union standards identified in the EPA’s 2025 report.

For Donegal, early 2027 is the next completion milestone; sustained compliant operation will determine whether the county’s remaining raw-sewage discharges are finally finished.