Up to 200,000 homes to benefit from new €150m water treatment plant in south Dublin

Up to 200,000 homes between Dún Laoghaire and north Wicklow will benefit from the completion of a €150m state-of-the-art treatment plant at Vartry.

Irish Water said the new plant, which is now operational, will result in the supply of a “high-quality, safe, secure and reliable” water supply for future generations.

Vartry has supplied the city with water for over 150 years and was first constructed by Dublin Corporation in the 1860s.

The scheme was a significant engineering feat for its time, with much of the ground and building works being carried out by men using only picks, shovels, horses and carts.

The Vartry plant was credited with reducing outbreaks of cholera, typhus and other diseases associated with contaminated water. The original scheme still provides drinking water to around 15pc of the Greater Dublin Area.

Vartry includes two reservoirs, a water treatment plant, a 4km tunnel under Callowhill and 40km of trunk mains that deliver water to storage reservoirs at Stillorgan. A new covered reservoir there formed part of the recent upgrade works.

The completion of the project has been described as a major milestone by Irish Water. It said the plant uses cutting-edge technologies to secure the supply of clean water in its catchment area, from Roundwood to Dún Laoghaire.

“The major upgrade to the Vartry Water Supply Scheme will ensure it continues a proud history of safeguarding the water supply for this highly populated part of the country for generations to come,” the company said.

Cllr Lettie McCarthy, Cathaoirleach of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, said the opening of the new plant was good news for the 132,000 people in the county receiving their water from Vartry.

She revealed that 47,000 households in DLR get 100pc of their supply directly from this scheme, with 85,000 sourcing their water from a combination of Vartry and Ballymore.

“This project has made production more sustainable and future-proofs us in terms of our water supply,” she said. “The Vartry reservoir can now produce up to 70 million litres per day.”

The new treatment plant was officially opened by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh O’Brien.