Irish Water has finally been granted consent by An Bord Pleanála to for the planned upgrade of the Vartry Water Treatment Plant, subject to 8 conditions.
Treated water from Vartry provides drinking water for 200,000 people through Wicklow and up to south Dublin.
Irish Water secured planning permission from Wicklow County Council in November 2016 to upgrade the Vartry water treatment plant. The consent was subsequently appealed by third parties. The decision by An Bord Pleanála follows an oral hearing in June and a two year public consultation process.
Geoff O’Sullivan, Programme Delivery Manger with Irish Water, said:
“We welcome the Direction of An Bord Pleanála for the consent of the planned upgrade of the Vartry Water Treatment Plant. The upgrade of the 150-year old Vartry Water Supply Scheme is a priority project for Irish Water, given its importance to so many people in Wicklow and south Dublin. As part of the project, Irish Water have committed to a number of significant measures to protect the ecology of the River Vartry, particularly during drought periods. The project will restore the treatment plant and water supply to ensure it meets all drinking water regulations and safeguards public health.”
Aerial View of the Vartry Water Treatment Plant
The Vartry Water Supply Scheme project includes:
- Constructing a new water treatment plant on the site of the existing plant at Vartry.
- Constructing a 4km pipeline to secure the transfer of treated water from Vartry to Callowhill pumping station.
- Decommissioning the existing Water Treatment Plant
- Decommissioning the Vartry tunnel to allow for remediation works to be carried out
- Replacing ageing pipes and fittings within the dam of the Vartry Reservoir
- Improvements to the Vartry dam spillway
Protecting the ecology of the River Vartry
As part of the planned upgrade to the water treatment plant, Irish Water has confirmed it will not abstract any additional water from the Vartry Reservoirs or from the catchment of the River Vartry. The volume of water abstracted will be the same as it has been over the last 150 years, when the Scheme was first commissioned.
Irish Water has also committed to release sustainable freshwater flows to the River Vartry downstream from the new water treatment plant.
The utility will provide flows of 5 million litres per day that will replace water that releases from the present water treatment plant on a variable basis. The guaranteed flow of 5 million litres per day will protect the ecology of the river during periods of low flow. Previously, during periods of drought, there was no flow release from the water treatment plant. This will be the first time in the 150 year operation of the Vartry Water Treatment Plant that such a guarantee will be used to safeguard the ecology of the river.
Irish Water is making a significant investment in the Vartry Water Supply Scheme to ensure a safe and sustainable water supply for the north Wicklow and south Dublin areas. The Vartry Water Supply Scheme is currently on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Remedial Action List (RAL) which identifies supplies that are in urgent need of improvement. The Vartry Water Treatment Plant presently has inadequate treatment against cryptosporidium and trihalomethanes or THMs.
The investment will ensure that water provided complies with water quality standards set out in the European Union Drinking Water Directive and the current, national Drinking Water Regulations.
The works are expected to commence on site in 2018 and will take approximately two years to complete.
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