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Irish Water
New Kerry Central Regional Water Treatment Plant at Lough Guitane opened in November, 2019
Irish Water is Embedding Sustainability in Water Services
Irish Water is taking a proactive approach to sustainability across water and wastewater assets, on the journey to become a low carbon, energy efficient water utility
At Irish Water, we are passionate about improving the sustainability of water services and playing our part in building a more sustainable future. We are implementing policies and strategies through our strategic business plan to support sustainability aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), taking a proactive approach to sustainability across our water and wastewater assets. The UN SDG’s have set an ambitious framework, with water having an individual goal within the SDGs. SDG 6 aims to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”.
Our mission is to ensure that all our customers receive a safe, reliable and sustainable supply of drinking water and have their wastewater collected and safely returned to the environment. Our ability to take drinking water from the environment, and return treated wastewater requires a healthy and sustainable functioning ecosystem,
OUR ABILITY TO TAKE DRINKING WATER FROM THE ENVIRONMENT, AND RETURN TREATED WASTEWATER REQUIRES A HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE FUNCTIONING ECOSYSTEM, FUNDAMENTALLY SUPPORTED BY A DIVERSITY OF PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE.
IRISH WATER
fundamentally supported by a diversity of plant and animal life.
Our approach supports the sustainable development of communities, working with communities across the country, understanding the different needs of the communities we serve, building strong relationships that deliver impactful changes in economic growth, social inclusion and environmental stewardship.
Together with our stakeholders, the SDGs will continue to serve as a blueprint for how we behave as a responsible water utility and to focus resources for delivering the most signifi cant and positive sustainability impacts.
CLIMATE ACTION As one of Ireland’s largest public sector energy consumers, energy effi ciency improvement is a key mitigation measure of our climate change policy to help ensure climate resilience. Our sustainable energy strategy takes a proactive, business-wide approach including concept design, new projects, retrofi ts and our people.
In 2020, our strategy and energy management programme included 36 Energy Action Plans and 255 discrete energy projects, including energy effi cient design, innovation, energy retrofi ts, renewable energy, lighting and heating, energy audits and planning, process optimisation, staff awareness and training.
We are implementing Energy Effi cient Design (EED) for all our new and existing assets in collaboration with the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI). Our strategic agreement with SEAI helps to design for energy effi ciency from concept, avoiding locking in ineffi ciencies whilst also helping to transform the industry at a national level.
We have made signifi cant progress on the journey to become a low carbon, energy effi cient, sustainable water utility. In 2020, we achieved over a 32% improvement in our energy effi ciency performance, equating to enough energy to power 200,000 homes for a full year, saving an equivalent of 90,000 tonnes of carbon.
Our energy performance was achieved against a backdrop of a rising base energy demand due to increased growth, infrastructure upgrades and higher quality standards. Our signifi cant improvements in energy effi ciency delinks our energy use from our carbon emissions. We are at the forefront in installing renewable energy sources, providing a low carbon, renewable and secure energy supply for our assets. Our renewable energy projects are among the fi rst in Ireland, reducing carbon emissions associated with water services.
We are on track to meet our target of 33% energy effi ciency improvement, putting us in a strong position to meet our
Bee Orchid which was spotted at the Luimnagh Water Treatment Plant in Galway – highlighting the success of the Irish Water’s biodiversity initiative at this location
target of 50% by 2030 and our new target of net zero carbon by 2040.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY We are progressing a number of initiatives taking a circular economy model for the management of our sludges (organic matter that has been removed during the water treatment process), as they provide a sustainable source of precious fi nite materials. Our approach focusses on productive reuse and recycling of sludges as a product, providing an alternative or complement to current raw materials being used, thus entering the circular economy.
We view water sludge as a valuable resource particularly in the context of the circular economy model. This model is in direct contrast to the current linear model of ‘take, make, consume, dispose’, with landfi ll being the primary end point.
In 2019, pilots conducted over two years, aimed at using drinking water sludge as a raw material came to fruition, as all of Leixlip’s WTP sludge, 8,500 tonnes pa, was diverted from landfi ll for use in cement manufacturing, displacing imported bauxite and other raw materials. We diverted an additional 3,000 tonnes to circular economy outlets during 2020. In 2020, we reached a key milestone with over 80% of our water sludge going to circular economy outlets, from a starting point from starting point in 2016 of 70% going to landfi ll. We are well on our way to reach our target of zero waste to landfi ll by 2030.
We are implementing nature-based solutions, such as installing innovative sustainable, low carbon, sludge reed beds giving biodiversity and habitat benefi ts. Working in partnership with Carlow County Council, we completed works to install Sludge Drying Reed Beds (SDRB) at fi ve wastewater treatment plants in Co. Carlow, and currently developing reed beds at a further 40 sites.
NATURAL CAPITAL Protection of the ecosystems in which we live and work is fundamental to Irish Water’s business. Irish Water manages infrastructure that is located within a range of habitats including species-rich
IRISH WATER
Launch of the Think Before You Flush campaign on World Toilet Day with by Clean Coasts in partnership with Irish Water
grassland, woodland, scrub and wetlands. Our infrastructure interacts directly with freshwater, estuarine and marine habitats through abstraction of water or discharge of wastewater.
We are rising to meet the challenge of Ireland’s biodiversity crisis, implementing biodiversity surveys, biodiversity management plans and biodiversity enhancement on our assets. Our Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) helps us to conserve, enhance and work with the natural environment.
We are working with Woodlands for Water, enhancing native biodiversity, carbon sequestration, source protection, contributing towards achieving the River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) and EU Water Framework Directive (WFD).
Our approach protects and enhances biodiversity, improving natural capital at our sites whilst also providing additional benefi ts such as carbon sequestration and drinking water source protection. We have implemented Biodiversity Management Plans and Enhancement Measures for 85 sites nationally. WATER STEWARDSHIP Water conservation and water stewardship for business is becoming very important in our drive to become a more sustainable nation. Irish Water is working in partnership with businesses to safeguard our water supply now and into the future with the Irish Water Certifi ed Water Stewardship Programme providing water stewardship training for business customers.
The innovative programme is the fi rst of its kind globally. It is an international best practice certifi cation, accredited by the European Water Stewardship Standard (EWS). The initiative is being implemented with the endorsement of key business stakeholder groups including Chambers Ireland, Ibec, IDA Ireland, Origin Green, BIM and Enterprise Ireland.
The specialised training provides business owners with the knowledge and expertise to lower water consumption and reduce operating costs while protecting the environment. Small changes such as identifying water waste on site, setting a baseline for water use, raising awareness amongst staff and customers or upgrading to water effi cient devices can help to save water and money. The programme alone in 2019 and 2020 has been the catalyst for 1,000 new water conservation projects to date.
CLEAN COASTS Irish Water partnered with An Taisce on the ‘Think Before You Flush’ awareness campaign about problems caused in our marine environment and wastewater systems by the thousands of unsuitable items that are fl ushed down toilets every day, causing blockages in our homes and businesses, leading to sewer overfl ows in our communities and plastic pollution in rivers, beaches and the ocean.
Operated by An Taisce’s Clean Coasts programme in partnership with Irish Water, the campaign is is promoted across the country, and we select a number of communities yearly, where we work closely with businesses, schools and the community to deliver educational workshops and engage the local residents in the campaign. In 2020, the six ‘Think Before You Flush’ communities were; Wicklow Town; Dundalk, Bundoran, Sligo; Mallow and Tralee.
There were fi ve national events run throughout the year and 30 regional activities in the six communities. Many events were modifi ed due to pandemic with the majority being delivered online. The message from the campaign became even more relevant as more people used more sanitising wipes than before, resulting in more blockages. An online national media campaign was carried out to highlight this issue.
Another important sponsorship for Irish Water is the An Taisce Green Schools programme, which allows us to invest in tomorrow’s water advocates today. Across Irish Water staff from many functions contribute to the programme which gives us a direct route to children who are the future engineers, scientists and communicators and giving us the opportunity to teach them about water as something that needs to be conserved and protected.
