There are many things that unite us as human beings, but few are more fundamental than water. We assume that clean water will always be available: flowing through our rivers, surrounding our coastline and arriving from our taps. In recent years local people in North and West Clare have seen repeated bathing restrictions and pollution warnings. These water quality declines are a very serious problem for local businesses, the tourism economy and the ecology of our rivers, estuaries and sea. Whilst there has been some progress (water treatment plants in Liscannor and Ballyvaughan have recently been completed, and Lahinch and Kilkee are in the pipeline), Ireland continues to struggle with inadequate water treatment infrastructure, with intermittent discharges and treatment systems that do not perform as they should.