Irish Water is working in partnership with Louth County Council to upgrade the Staleen Water Treatment Plant and the Cavanhill Water Treatment Plant - the €24 million upgrades will ensure both plants comply with all drinking water standards.
A contract to complete the upgrades was recently signed by Irish Water and work will commence in the coming months. works The work is expected to take approximately 18 months to complete and will be carried out by Murphy Process Engineering Limited on behalf of Irish Water.
In parallel Irish Water is progressing with the design works associated with the replacement of the existing pumped supply main from Roughgrange Pumping Station on the banks of the River Boyne to Staleen Water Treatment Plant (WTP).
Staleen WTP treats and supplies water to the South Louth and East Meath Water Supply Zones (WSZ’s). Cavanhill WTP treats and supplies water to Dundalk.The South Louth and East Meath water supply zones water supplies are on the Environmental Project Agency’s (EPA’s) Remedial Action List (RAL) for exceedances of ‘trihalomethanes’ (THMs).
The project includes the following works at the respective treatment plants:
- Introduction of pH correction of raw water
- Upgrade of existing Coagulation, Flocculation and Clarification Process
- Upgrade of existing filtration processes
- Upgrade of disinfection infrastructure
- Upgrade of solid and liquid residual treatment infrastructure
The Roughgrange Pumping Station which pumps water to the Staleen WTP and the Stephenstown Pumping Station which pumps water to the Cavanhill WTP are amongst Irish Water’s top energy users. Improvement measures have been identified to significantly improve the energy efficiency and increase resilience at these key infrastructure sites.
Commenting on the Project William McKnight, Infrastructure Regional Lead at Irish Water, said:
“The Staleen WTP is on the EPA’s RAL for exceedances of THMs. The upgrade works to the plant will enable South Louth which includes the supply to Drogheda and East Meath WSZ’s to be removed from the RAL. The upgrade at Staleen will also benefit the environment as it will improve the treatment of the existing discharges to the River Boyne and improve energy efficiency at both plants. It is a priority for Irish Water to upgrade both plants to ensure they comply with all drinking water standards.”
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