Irish Water is getting ready to submit a new planning application in the coming weeks to Cork County Council to construct a new sewerage scheme in Inchigeelagh village.
Irish Water will deliver the project, which involves the construction of a new wastewater treatment plant and sewerage infrastructure in the village, in partnership with Cork County Council.
The scheme will eliminate the discharge of untreated wastewater into the River Lee and ensure that all discharges meet the requirements set out in the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. The new plant, sewer pipes and pumping stations will also all be sized to accommodate future population growth.

Discussing the project, Anthony Kavanagh, Irish Water’s Regional Lead, said:
“Inchigeelagh is a gateway to West Cork and has great potential to develop more as a popular tourist destination in its own right. By ending the unacceptable practice of discharging untreated wastewater into the River Lee, this project will boost the area by enhancing the local environment, protecting health and supporting economic development.”
“Irish Water, together with our partners in Cork County Council, is confident that this scheme will bring significant benefits to Inchigeelagh and the Lee Valley for years to come.”
The project is being delivered as part of Irish Water’s investment plan which prioritises key outcomes such as leakage, water supply zones removed from the EPA’s Remedial Action List, areas where there is raw sewage entering the rivers, lakes and the sea (untreated agglomerations), and areas identified by the European Court of Justice under the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive.
Other projects also underway in County Cork to end the discharge of untreated wastewater include the recently completed sewerage scheme in Courtmacsherry and Timoleague, as well as Cork Lower Harbour, Castletownbere, Whitegate-Aghada, Castletownshend and Ballycotton.
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