Inistioge Water Supply Scheme – Project Update Introduction Irish Water, working in partnership with Kilkenny County Council, has confirmed it will invest over €10 million euro as part of the Inistioge Water Supply Scheme. The contract which was signed by Irish Water on Wednesday 21 June 2017 will see work commence in the coming months. Irish Water expects these works to take approximately 18 months to complete. Ward and Burke Construction Limited will carry out this work on behalf of Irish Water.
What is involved as part of this project? This project will involve the following works including:
Construction of approximately 17.6km of new water mains. Installation and commissioning of a new borewell in the townland of Grennan. Redevelopment, relining and commissioning of the existing borehole in Grennan. Construction of a new reservoir on the existing Grennan Water Treatment Plant at Thomastown. Upgrading the existing chlorine dosing system at the Grennan Water Treatment Plant. New UV treatment at Grennan Water Treatment Plant Construction of a new reservoir in the townland of Kilmacshane, Inistioge. Construction of a new booster pumping station at Kilcross. Upgrade works at the Ballygub reservoir. Upgrading of existing booster station at Woodstock, Inistioge.
Why is this project needed and what are the benefits? The existing Thomastown and Inistioge Water Supply Schemes are two separate schemes that currently operate independently. The Inistioge scheme serves a population of approximately 1,390 and has a demand of 579m3/day and is served by an upland peaty surface water. Thomastown has a population of 2,647 and a demand of 1,700m3/day. It is proposed to link the two networks and supply the entire network from the Thomastown source by providing one additional well in Thomastown. This will allow the abandonment of the existing vulnerable source in Inistioge whilst utilising existing storage facilities at Ballygub Water Treatment Plant (WTP). The source supplying the existing Ballygub Water Treatment Plant has had historical issues of drying out during prolonged dry weather and due to its peaty catchment area heavy rainfall has caused the water quality to significantly reduce the efficiency of the treatment process. A temporary treatment plant has been on site since 2010 to address this issue. However, the Inistioge supply remains on the Remedial Action List (RAL) for elevated levels of THM’s. On completion of this project, the works will address water quality and quantity deficiencies in the Inistioge network through the upgrade to the Thomastown Water Treatment Plant and network connection and subsequent decommissioning of the Ballygub Water Treatment Plant. The decommissioning of Ballygub Water Treatment Plant will also facilitate Irish Water deliver on their commitment to rationalise the number of Water Treatment Plants throughout the country. Upon completion, residents, businesses and the agricultural community in Thomastown, Inistoge and the surrounding rural areas will benefit from improved drinking water quality, reduced disruptions to supply, improved security of supply and water pressure.
Where will the project take place? The location of the proposed works is shown in Figure 1 and briefly outlined below:
New pipeline from a new well at Grennan to Grennan WTP, Thomastown. New pipeline from Grennan WTP to new Reservoir at Kilmacshane, Inistioge. New pipeline from Kilmacshane to the existing Ballygub treatment plant reservoir. The 17.6 km of pipeline along the public road with sections through private lands, including river crossings at Ballyduff and Inistioge.
Figure 1 – Location of proposed works
As part of this project, works will take place along roads in the following areas including:
Description Reservoir to Grennan Grennan to Ballyduff bridge Ballyduff Bridge to Inistioge reservoir Inistioge Reservoir to Inistioge Inistioge to Ballygub Total on Public Roads
Length (m) 200 3,904 2,603 1,625 6,270 14,629
The work sections will be limited to short sections to minimise impact on residents, businesses and road users. The works will involve some short-term water shut offs for a number of hours over a day or two in each area when the pipes are being connected to the system. The project team will ensure that householders and businesses are advised of any works in their area in advance and will be given a minimum of 48 hours prior notice of any planned water shut offs. Traffic management measures will be in place for the duration of the work which may cause some disruption but local access will be maintained at all times as much as possible during the works.� The Project Team will notify the local community in advance of planned works in their areas and provide contact details should they have any queries. The Project Team will work closely with businesses to minimise any potential disruption.