A critical milestone in the delivery of a safe, secure and sustainable water supply for the Greater Dublin Area has been reached with the completion by Irish Water of a major upgrade to the historic Vartry Water Supply Scheme. Design, construction and commissioning was carried out by Veolia Ireland Ltd.
The new state-of-the art water treatment plant was opened by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage Darragh O’Brien, TD and the Cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council Shay Cullen, along with Irish Water’s Managing Director Niall Gleeson.
The Vartry Water Supply Scheme or “The Vartry” was originally constructed in the 1860s. A major feat of engineering for its time, the scheme was developed by Dublin Corporation to provide a safe and reliable drinking water supply to the Dublin region and helped to reduce outbreaks of water borne disease such as cholera.
Over 150 years on and “The Vartry” remains an integral part of the water supply for the Greater Dublin Area, supplying more than 200,000 people in Dublin and North Wicklow. The scheme was in urgent need of improvement and was listed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Remedial Action List (RAL), which identifies water supplies that are in need of improvement to comply with drinking water regulations.
The delivery of this new Water Treatment Plant by Irish Water will facilitate the removal from the RAL of the seven water supply zones linked to Vartry, and will secure the water supply for much of the highly populated North Wicklow and South Dublin area for the coming decades.
The completion of the new water treatment plant marks the culmination of a total investment of €150 million in the upgrade of the Vartry Water Supply Scheme, which also delivered the replacement of the old Vartry to Callowhill tunnel and the construction of a new covered reservoir in Stillorgan.
A video of the project is available to view at https://youtu.be/ERMmVK2L41Y
