The location of and other information about (a) identified bathing waters (beaches and lakes) under the Bathing Water Quality Directive 2006/7/EC which is implemented in Ireland through the Bathing Water Quality Regulations 2008, and (b) other monitored waters not managed under the Regulations (non-identified bathing waters).

Local authorities report location and other information for ‘identified’ bathing waters (monitored and managed under Bathing Water Quality Regulations 2008 (SI No. 79 of 2008)) to the EPA via the Bathing Water Information System (BWIS) on EDEN (Environmental Data Exchange Network). XY points are created from the co-ordinates reported. The Beach ID for identified bathing waters is a unique identifier and in the format required by the EC (County Code, River Basin District, Bathing Water type (e.g. Lake = BWL) Coastal, Transitional) Waterbody code and a unique 4 digit number. Local authorities separately report information for other monitored waters not managed under the Regulations (‘non-identified’) and for these the Beach ID is the monitoring station code in the Monitoring Data System (MDS) in EDEN.