DURL Project Water Quality in Urban Rivers Conference 28th May 2024
The Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE (DURL) Project held its Water Quality in Urban Rivers Conference on 28th May 2024 and a tour of the two Dodder Valley Park wetlands on 29th May 2024. The conference focussed on raising awareness about the pollution impact of misconnections and enhancing urban water quality in our local rivers. In addition to presentations from Inland Fisheries Ireland, Dublin City University, University College Dublin, the Water Policy Section in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Vesi Environmental Limited, SDCC, DLRCC and the DURL Project team, the event included international speakers from the EU LIFE Programme, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), Scottish Water and a French City Council and LIFE Project.
The event was chaired by Richard Fitzpatrick, Climate Change Co-ordinator, DLRCC, andwater quality and policy representatives from local authorities and state agencies attended the event both online and in person in the Rua Red Arts Centre, Tallaght. A first view of the DURL Project animated video was showcased on the day and the Conference contained a workshop demonstrating the projects’ Misconnection Detection and Wetland Builder Tools to enable the replication of the DURL Project water quality enhancement work. Huge thanks to all our speakers who helped to make the event such a success.
You can watch the DURL Project Conference talks by using this YouTube Playlist
We have also shared links to a pdf of each of the presentations, which can be accessed by clicking on the following presentations:
Welcome Address: Teresa Walsh, Director of Environment, Water and Climate Change Department, South Dublin County Council | |||
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Setting the Scene on Urban Water Quality Policy Averil Gannon, Water Policy Advisor, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (DHLGH) | ||
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Urban Water Quality in Europe – is the Polluter Paying? Dr. Lynne Barratt Technical Monitor ELMEN EEIG, on behalf of the European Commission supporting the LIFE Programme | ||
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Scotland’s Bathing Water Improvements Ruth Stidson, Principal Scientist (Bathing Waters), Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) Gary Small, Environmental Regulation Advisor, Scottish Water
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Improving the Quality of the Seine: A Focus on Disconnections and Misconnections Dr. Paul Kennouche, LIFE ADSORB Project Manager and Head of the Water Cycle and Water Quality, Water and Cleanliness Department, Paris
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| Optimisation of Misconnection Detection Resources Lauren Redmond, Assistant Scientist, Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE (DURL) Project
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| Misconnection Case Studies: How Perseverance Pays Sylvester Asiedu-Appiah, Wesley Sinclair, Fergal Nugent and Gerard Spain, Stormwater Assessors, Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE (DURL) Project
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Anyone for a Cocktail? A Brief Look at the Chemicals Entering our Surface Waters Professor Fiona Regan, School of Chemical Sciences, Dublin City University (DCU) and Director of the DCU Water Institute
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| Professor Wim Meijer, Professor of Microbiology and Director M.Sc. Biotechnology Programme, University College Dublin (UCD) | ||
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A Local Authority Engineers Perception of Misconnections Paul Buggy, Senior Executive Engineer, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) | |||
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| Aila Carty, VESI Environmental Ltd.
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Misconnections GIS Resource and Decision Support Tool Workshop Briana Shiels, GIS Officer, Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE (DURL) Project
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| Integrated Constructed Wetland (ICW) Builder Workshop Ger Staunton, Project Engineer, Dublin Urban Rivers LIFE (DURL) Project
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| Closing Remarks: Aidan Blighe, Director of Planning and Economic Development, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (DLRCC) |
DURL Project Radio Interview
The DURL Project Co-ordinator Lorraine Beirne did a Liffey Sound 96.4 FM radio interview to raise awareness about misconnections and the impacts on our waterbodies.
You can listen to a recording of the interview here: https://www.mixcloud.com/liffeysoundfm/lucan-community-hour-elaine-hannon-080524/
Publications
A set of reports will be prepared over the four years of the project.
- Layman’s report,
- Design of Integrated Constructed Wetlands for water quality in public parks,
- Domestic misconnection detection and prevention,
- Urban water improvement conceptual model and Decision Support Tool,
- Geographical Information Systems for Domestic Misconnection detection,
- AfterLIFE Conservation Plan,
- Leaflets to companion video infographic for use by homeowners.
