5 April 2021
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Irish Water, working in partnership with Cork City Council, will commence three large strategic water supply upgrade projects in the coming months, which will safeguard water supply to the City.
The upgrades will deliver a far more secure and robust water supply to the city centre and surrounding areas. This significant investment by Irish Water will involve the construction of additional strategic watermains, replacing existing watermains and upgrading multiple pumping stations that supply drinking water to the city from Lee Road water treatment plant.
Together the three projects will increase the security of drinking water supply, reduce leakage, increase capacity and enable growth and development of the city. They will also result in improved energy efficiency across the city’s water treatment plants and networks.
Farrans Ltd. is delivering these projects on behalf of Irish Water, with the works to commence in the coming months and expected to take two years to complete.
The first project will involve the construction of a new 5.5km link between water supplies in the City Centre and Cork Harbour area. The new link will provide additional water supply capacity to Cork City, facilitating growth in the city centre and improving security of water supply, for example during large burst incidents, or during drought periods. The project will include a significant pipe crossing of the River Lee, as well as crossings of other critical road arteries into the city.
The second project will involve the replacement of 2.4km of large diameter trunk mains between Camden Quay and Shanakiel reservoir. This project will provide a more secure and reliable supply of water to Cork City, as well as reduce leakage and the amount of treated drinking water currently lost in the ground every day in the city.
The third project will involve replacing 1.85km of the water supply network between Lee Road water treatment plant and the Shanakiel and Harbour View reservoirs. It will also involve the construction of two new pumping stations at Shanakiel and Harbour View. Once complete, this project will safeguard the water supply to Churchfield, Harbour View, Shanakiel and the western side of Cork City. This new project will also improve energy efficiency, reducing the amount of energy needed to pump water across the city’s networks, reduce leakage and provide a more secure water supply to this part of the city.
Brian Sheehan, Head of Asset Management at Irish Water
Brian Sheehan, Head of Asset Management at Irish Water said,
“Irish Water is committed to improving water supply and reducing leakage nationally. We are delighted to announce the commencement of three significant new projects in Cork City that will result in improved security of supply into the city, reduce leakage across the city’s networks and support development and growth of the city in the decades ahead.”
David Joyce, Director of Operational Services in Cork City Council said,
“Cork City Council is continually striving to build resilience into all of our key public services, which serve the communities and businesses across the City. These three projects will deliver modern robust infrastructure which will serve Cork City for decades to come and will facilitate the City in achieving the very ambitious growth plans that the Government have set out for us in the National Development Plan – Project Ireland 2040.”
Conor Healy, Cork Chamber CEO said,
“This capital investment is a welcome step by Irish Water and is urgently required. It is essential that Irish Water invests significantly and proportionately in Cork as the fastest growing City region in Ireland, and that it is robustly supported to do so in the National Development Plan.”
These projects are expected to commence in the coming months and will take two years to complete.
