Irish Water has described the opening of its state-of-the-art new Wastewater Treatment Plant at Athea as the equivalent of upgrading from 1970s Cortina to a 2019 Hybrid Electric Vehicle.
The new plant, which was developed by Irish Water in partnership with Limerick City and County Council, represents an investment of almost €2m which will bring greatly improved performance and much higher levels of environmental protection.
Alan Morrissey, Networks Programme Regional Lead at Irish Water, said that the new plant represented a big leap forward in the quality of wastewater treatment, commenting:
“The old plant provided many years of good service but standards, expectations and technology have moved on and this new system means better performance, higher safety standards and enhanced environmental protection.
“The original wastewater treatment plant was built in the 1940s and was no longer fit for purpose. This new plant will ensure that wastewater from Athea will be treated to the high standards set out by the Urban Wastewater Treatment Regulations, safeguarding water quality in the River Galey and other local waterways and ensuring the treatment capacity is in place to support growth and development in Athea for years to come.”
TES Group Limited and Nicholas O’Dwyer Consulting Engineers were the main parties involved in delivering the project on behalf of Irish Water’s Capital Programmes. Construction work got underway in summer 2018 and the new treatment plant has been completed and commissioned in recent weeks.
The work involved decommissioning the old primary treatment system and building a new wastewater treatment plant, upgrading the existing pumping station and constructing a new 500m rising main from the pumping station to the treatment plant. The project has upgraded and modernised several elements of the wastewater treatment process at the plant.
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