Local authorities must identify official bathing areas in their area every year so that they can be monitored for safety, water quality and their level of use.
To help with this process, Cavan County Council is asking people who swim at beaches, lakes and rivers to tell them if they think they should maintain existing designated bathing waters designations.
Under European and Irish law, Irish local authorities must identify bathing waters each year so that these areas can be monitored to ensure they meet stringent microbiological water quality standards.
In some cases, the official bathing areas are also the areas where local authorities focus their resources providing lifeguards during the summer season.
These laws also require that the local authority prepares detailed descriptions or profiles for each of the identified bathing water sites that describe not just the bathing area but also areas in the surface waters catchment area that could be a source of pollution.
