ABSTRACT
Lough Gara Farms Limited established an intensive dairy farm to produce milk for direct retail sale in 1961. The existing treatment system uses a natural wetland formed as a result of successive drainage schemes carried out in the lake and its feed and discharge rivers between 1816 and 1953. This chapter gives the results of the wetland treatment system portion of these studies. The wetlands wastewater treatment system is divided into two zones. The northern zone lies in the former lake bed and has a total area of approximately 6.4 ha. The second zone has an area of approximately 5.5 ha. The Sligo RTC report conclusion that “Lough Gara Farms Limited at Rathtermon appear to be having a slight eutrophic impact on the waters of Lough Gara” is based on the BOD5 measurement and the increase in phyto-plankton, but both these measurements are a reflection of the aquatic and emergent plants in this region.
