Offaly benefits from investment in wastewater treatment
Communities across Offaly continue to benefit from Irish Water’s progress in improving wastewater treatment, resulting in a cleaner environment, enhanced water quality and greater capacity to support growth and development.
The latest EPA Urban Wastewater Treatment Report for 2021 recognises the ongoing progress being made by Irish Water in upgrading Ireland’s public wastewater infrastructure while also highlighting the need for continued investment in our essential wastewater services.
Since 2014 when Irish Water assumed responsibility for public water services, 60% of raw sewage discharges by volume have been eliminated through targeted investment in new sewerage infrastructure where none existed previously, and we are on target to eliminate nearly all of the remainder by 2025.
In Offaly, investment in wastewater infrastructure in Edenderry has led to improvements in water quality, while also supporting housing and economic development in these areas.
Irish Water’s targeted programme of investment in existing wastewater infrastructure is also reaping benefits for communities around the country. The building of new treatment plants and upgrading of existing ones has led to continued improvements in the quality of receiving waters. Compliance rates with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive remain strong at 93% of plants - up from just 81% in 2015.
As a result of this progress, the impact of urban wastewater on catchment waters has continued to reduce. In the first River Basin Management Plan, prior to the establishment of Irish Water, urban wastewater was identified as the second most dominant pressure on receiving waters; this has now reduced to the fourth and we expect that, by 2027, urban wastewater will be down to seventh, which demonstrates our commitment to improve overall water quality in Ireland’s rivers, lakes and seas.
This reflects the significant progress being made by Irish Water in upgrading wastewater infrastructure and optimising operations at wastewater treatment plants.
Irish Water, working with Offaly County Council, is progressing with plans to upgrade the wastewater infrastructure in Edenderry.
Donal Heaney, Irish Water, Regional Asset Operations, Wastewater added, “The scale of delivery of this critical infrastructure is unprecedented: last year we invested €367 million in Ireland’s wastewater – the highest ever in a single year – and we are on track to increase that further over the coming years as we strive to deliver best in class wastewater services and infrastructure for Ireland now and in the future.
The largest remaining location that is not compliant with the Directive is Ringsend, which treats 44% of the country’s wastewater load. To address this, Irish Water is investing over €500 million in the staged upgrading of Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant. This major upgrade, which is now underway, will allow the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant to treat the increasing volumes of wastewater arriving at the plant to the required standard, enabling future housing and commercial development. The project will deliver, on a phased basis, the capacity to treat the wastewater for a population equivalent of 2.4 million while achieving the standards of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.