Significant Funding Secured for Improved Monitoring of Bathing Water Quality

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is delighted to announce that together with Dublin City University, Fingal County Council and our partners from Tallinn University of Technology and Tartu University from Estonia, we have been successful in securing significant funding to research and develop an improved methodology for monitoring 'Bathing Water Quality’ with the ‘FinEst Centre for Smart Cities’ in Tallinn Estonia. 

The ‘UrbanSplash’ Smart City Challenge Project represents the culmination of an eighteen-month partnership, with the project application jointly developed by teams from Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (Smart Dún Laoghaire), Fingal County Council (Smart Balbriggan), Dublin City University, Tallinn University of Technology, and Tartu University. 'Smart City Challenges, such as FinEst Centre is doing, work by matching proposed city challenges with the appropriate scientific researchers to develop cutting edge solutions.

Councillor Jim O’Leary, Cathaoirleach, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said:

"Our hope with this innovative project is that we can improve the overall experience of the community of water users along our beautiful coastline. We believe strongly that working in partnership with our neighbouring local authorities and with universities such as DCU that we can make a difference."

Bathing Water Quality was identified as a priority Smart City Challenge since this is of critical importance to Dublin. Over the course of the project various scientific approaches to improving "Bathing Water Quality" detection, monitoring and communication will be trialled and validated in both Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Fingal.  

The ‘FinEst Centre for Smart Cities’ runs this “Smart City Challenge” competition aiming to discover and implement innovative ideas that address complex urban challenges. These pilot projects will create scalable solutions, enhancing the overall quality of living in cities. The winning pilot project will receive funding of €1.2 m over a 3-year period. The pilot project will be coordinated by the FinEst Centre. The winning pilot project will receive funding of €1.2 m over a 3-year period and it is funded by the European Union and Estonian State Financing.

Frank Curran, Chief Executive, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said:

"From an engineering point of view Bathing Water Quality is a particularly difficult challenge – there are legal requirements around testing, the weather has a huge effect, and timely information is key to protecting public health. By combining the best microbial science with machine learning, data modelling and artificial intelligence we hope to improve detection, monitoring and communication with our public. I particularly look forward to following the progress of this very significant Smart City Project."

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council and DCU are the lead Irish partners in this pilot project. The Bathing Water Quality solution developed will be tested and validated here in Dublin as well as in Tartu, Estonia. 

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council and Dublin City University in partnership with our Irish and international project partners look forward to driving this project forward and will keep you updated via Smart Dublin and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council websites. 

Further information:

Smart Dublin facilitated the introductions between dlr Digital Strategy and FinEst Centre through the Smart Cities World Congress in Barcelona and the Bathing Water Quality Challenge – UrbanSplash,  was formally submitted to the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities in early 2024. Smart City Challenges, such as FinEst Centre is doing, work by matching proposed city challenges with the appropriate scientific researchers to develop cutting edge solutions, with the goal of eventual implementation and commercialisation.