Waste water plant upgrade ends ‘Clon pong’

Irish Water has received plenty of bad press but in one West Cork town it has offered one piece of good news: The ‘Clon Pong’ is gone.

In other words, the waste water treatment plant in Clonakilty is nearing completion of its €7m overhaul, making it the first in Ireland and Britain to utilise a new processing which cleans effluent to a better standard, with less energy used and creating less sludge.

According to the engineers involved, the facility is also likely to reduce the chances of unwanted smells wafting across Clonakilty Bay, due to less nitrogen and phosphorus entering it in the treated water, meaning less algae, and less of an odour.

In the face of continued opposition to water charges, Irish Water is embarking on a series of upgrades to similar facilities nationwide, but Clonakilty seems to be something of a special case.

It is the first in these islands to utilise the Dutch Nereda biological treatment system, which treats the waste generated from the local area, arriving through three pumping stations, with aerobic granular biomass; purifying bacteria that results in the creation of granules which settle quicker and which are easier to deal with than the sludge typically formed in waste treatment.

The technology could be applied to larger waste treatment plants for much larger population centres, according to Irish Water.

“The existing plant could take [capacity for] 5,000 population,” an Irish Water spokesman said. “This has capacity for 20,500.”

The popular coastal town did not have a constant issue with unpleasant smells but, like other towns of similar capacity — and particularly those near water — weekends in summer often featured an odour.

Those involved in the revamped plant believe there will be less of that in the future as, while the same quantity of treated waste water is expelled into the sea, its highly treated nature means it should not contribute to the growth of algae.

Running costs are also reduced by 35% a year, according to Irish Water, which took over the project in January 2014. Work began on December 19 and the plant is due to be fully operational in three months’ time.

The newly fitted plant is also unique in having most of its storage capacity underground, both on site and underneath a nearby park, where it can take overflow if required. According to Irish Water, this was to facilitate Clonakilty’s status as a National Heritage Area, Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area.

Irish Water spokeswoman Aisling Buckley said existing capacity in the town had come under increasing pressure in recent years, particularly during the summer months when tourist would descend.

The nearest neighbour to the refitted plant is the West Cork Model Railway Village, and its manager, Kim McNamara, said she welcomed the works that had taken place.

“The historic odour problems that occurred in the town due to the limited capacity of the old plant have been significantly improved,” she said, although Irish Water stressed that the air scrubbing system is still not fully operational, meaning further improvements in air quality are expected.