UrbanDip Bathing Water Quality Trial at Dún Laoghaire Baths

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council is participating in a three-year research project with Dublin City University (DCU) and the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities to trial new technology aimed at improving public information on bathing water quality.

The project, known as UrbanDip, is testing a prototype near real-time bathing water quality sampler alongside an artificial intelligence–powered pollution forecasting tool at Dún Laoghaire Baths. The prototype is installed on site and will operate alongside the existing regulatory bathing water quality sampling programme.

If the trial proves successful, UrbanDip could provide additional timely information to support informed decision-making around safe swimming and other recreational water activities. Through regular automated testing and predictive analytics, the system aims to identify swim‑friendly conditions more accurately and may help increase the number of known safe swimming days each year. Please note: As this is a research and validation exercise, results will not be made publicly available.

While regulatory bathing water sampling will continue to be the primary source of official water quality results, the UrbanDip system has the potential to complement this data by offering more frequent insights.

A similar UrbanDip kiosk was installed in Tartu, Estonia, in September 2025. These pilot locations act as reference sites for the development, testing and validation of the technology. The project runs until October 2027, with a total value of €1.2 million. It is fully funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research, and is led by the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities.

This project was initiated through DLR’s Digital Strategy Team which identifies potential collaboration opportunities where council services can be improved through research, emergent technology and innovation.

Find out more about the UrbanDip project