Paying for water services: Billions required for essential projects across the country
East and Midlands water supply project
Otherwise known as the Parteen Basin Abstraction Plan or the Shannon-Dublin Pipeline, this is a hugely ambitious plan to take up to 330m litres of drinking water a day from Tipperary to serve the needs of Dublin.
The chosen route would run for 170km through the property of some 500 landowners. The last of four public consultation exercises finished last February.
Irish Water is working on an environmental impact assessment report and aims to have it ready to accompany a planning application to An Bord Pleanála in the first half of next year. The cost is estimated at €1.2bn.
The greater Dublin drainage project
A new regional wastewater treatment system for the greater Dublin area has been identified since 2005 as necessary to meet the growing needs of Dublin and the commuter belt areas of the adjoining counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow.
Two new pumping stations will be needed, as well as a massive wastewater treatment facility (to be located on a 20-hectare site at Clonshaugh in north Co Dublin), a 13km sewer and a 12km outfall pipe that will run the 6km from Clonshaugh to the coast and 6km into the Irish Sea.
A planning application is expected to be made to An Bord Pleanála in the first half of next year and, all going to plan, construction will begin in 2021, taking several years to complete. Early estimates of the project put the cost at €500m, but that appears conservative. Irish Water says the full cost of the project is “likely to be hundreds of millions”.
Notably, the project is only future-proofed up to 2040. If the population increases beyond estimates and demands on the wastewater system grow with it, a whole new expansion plan and budget will be required.
Lead pipe replacement
About 180,000 homes, offices, commercial premises and public buildings are believed to be served by lead pipes, which were commonly used prior to 1980, when the health effects of lead leaching into drinking water became established.
Irish Water is replacing all lead water mains and will also replace pipes leading from the mains up to the boundary of the property in question, once the owner undertakes to replace the pipes that run from that point to their property and their internal plumbing.
The public side of the job is expected to take up to 10 years and cost €370m. In the meantime, to reduce risk, additives are to be used in some supplies to reduce pipe corrosion and mitigate the effects of any lead present.
Leakage reduction
In tandem with the lead pipe replacement programme, Irish Water also plan to prioritise over the next four years the replacement of around 6,000km of the water supply pipes where the worst leakages occur and which are most at risk of bursting.
That’s only the start of a much bigger job, as it will only reduce the amount of water lost through leaks from 47% to 38% by the end of 2021. It sounds better when Irish Water say it, as they equate that to saving 180 million litres of water every day.
The cost to the end of 2021 will be €500m. Considering there’s around 60,000km of ageing, leaking pipes — often made of iron and rusting badly — to be replaced, the longer-term costs will be many multiples of that.
Vartry water supply scheme
Engineers speak of the Callow Hill tunnel with a mix of wonder and fear. The wonder comes from the fact that the 1.8m-high, 1.5m-wide, 4km-long structure, completed in 1866, was built by men with rudimentary tools and has managed 151 years of unbroken service, carrying drinking water from Roundwood in Co Wicklow to the mains that make their way to Dublin.
The fear comes from the strain that 151 years of unbroken service has placed on the tunnel, which is considered in imminent danger of collapse, which would leave around 15% of greater Dublin without water.
Planning permission was granted this year for the construction of 4km pipeline away from the tunnel, with construction expected to begin next year and take two years to complete.
Parallel plans for a new water treatment plant and associated works on the Vartry Reservoir were granted planning permission last year, but were the subject of an appeal and oral planning hearing during the summer. If the works go ahead, the cost will be at least €200m.
Cork lower harbour main drainage
Cork Harbour is a valuable amenity that supports a vast array of industries, jobs, tourist attractions and leisure activities, yet wastewater from Cobh, Carrigaline, Ringaskiddy, Passage West and Monkstown was discharged untreated into it every day.
A comprehensive plan to clean up the problem, involving the construction of 14 new pumping stations, 30km of sewers and a new wastewater treatment plant, is under way. The wastewater treatment plant, at Shanbally, was completed late last year and has cut the amount of raw sewage going into the harbour by half.
Work is continuing on linking up the remaining communities to the plant, but this is the trickiest part of the project, as it will involve pipes running across the harbour.
In total, the project is expected to cost €117m, around €40m of which has been spent.
Kerry central regional water supply scheme project
The towns of Killarney and Tralee and all that lies between them may be best known as tourist hot spots but they’re also a big hit with cryptosporidium.
The existing water supply scheme, which serves 62,000 resident households and businesses and an increased population during peak tourism season, does not have an effective treatment system to protect against the parasite that causes gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses.
Work on a new water treatment plant is under way and is scheduled for completion in the summer next year. The cost of the project is put at €30m.
