Irish Water invests over €127,000 in Offaly

27th July 2017

IRISH Water is to invest over €127,000 in flow monitoring and performance sampling equipment in wastewater treatment plants across County Offaly as part of a nationwide project which will provide enhanced protection for our rivers and coastal waters. The project will also allow Irish Water to identify where investment is needed in the wastewater infrastructure to facilitate future development in the county’s towns and villages.

This investment makes critical wastewater flow and load data available on a consistent basis for the first time ever, helping to improve the performance of the treatment plants while also helping protect the waterways into which treated wastewater is discharged. When it is completed, plant operators and engineers will have the data and tools to enable them to better manage the treatment processes, measure performance and react quicker to any sudden changes such as a storm event.

The Offaly Flow Monitoring and Sampling programme is already underway. Once the design phase is complete, flow measurement devices, storm event recorders and sampling equipment will be installed at approximately seven wastewater treatment plants across Offaly. This project will also ensure compliance with EPA Wastewater Discharge Authorisations with respect to monitoring and sampling requirements.

This project is being rolled out under a national flow monitoring and sampling programme where approximately €10m is being invested across 400 wastewater treatment plants of varying sizes to comply with EPA licence requirements. This will help build flow and load profiles which in turn will help form strategies for upgrading, maintaining, improving plant efficiencies and ensuring we identify early where investment is required to meet future demands on wastewater infrastructure.