€30m upgrade to Kerry’s main water supply begins
The treatment plant at Lough Guitane, a mountain lake near will provide 51m litres of treated water per day to residents in Tralee, Killarney, Castleisland, and Castlemaine, in addition to an extensive rural area across the county as well as the county’s tourist industry.
It is is part of a €30m Irish Water investment in the central Kerry scheme to supply more than 60,000 people, and the largest contract awarded by Irish Water this year, a ceremony to mark the construction was told.
The Kerry Central Regional Water Supply Scheme abstracts raw water from Lough Guitane but does not have an effective treatment system incorporating a cryptosporidium barrier.
Irish Water marked the start of construction of the new plant on Lough Guitane with a sod-turning by minister of state for housing and urban renewal Damien English.
Glan Agua is carrying out the construction on behalf of Irish Water, with engineering services provided by Nicholas O’Dwyer and work to date completed by Kerry County Council.
The €30m investment will ensure that the treatment processes are in place by December 2017 with full completion by mid-2018. This will allow for the removal of more than 62,000 people from the remedial action list
This project forms part of Irish Water’s investment plan where more than €530m will be invested in upgrading services in 2016 to improve the country’s water and waste water infrastructure.
The Irish Water Business Plan has earmarked almost €2bn to improve waste water quality and capacity to 2021.
