Tuesday, 26th November 2013
Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Phil Hogan, TD, has approved the design proposals for the Cork City Water Supply Scheme – Network Contract (Wilton – Lee Road Trunk Main).
The Minister’s approval of Cork City Council’s design proposals for the Wilton – Lee Road Trunk Main element of the Cork City Water Supply Scheme – Network Contract is a very significant decision. This decision will ensure that Cork has a robust water infrastructure that can cope with disruptions to supply from the Lee Road water treatment plant.
I very much welcome this important investment in Cork’s water infrastructure. It is estimated that the project will cost just over €2.9 million and will deliver a new trunk main connection between the Lee Road Water Treatment Plant and an existing 600mm diameter pipeline from the Cork Harbour & City Water Supply Scheme, at the Wilton Road Roundabout. This will allow water from the Cork Harbour & City water scheme to be used to supply Cork City in the event of future disruptions to the supply from the Lee Road WTP.
When vast areas of Cork City were left without water following severe flooding, which damaged the Lee Road WTP, it exposed the inadequacies of our water infrastructure. There had been no significant investment in our water infrastructure and our water supply system had no way of coping. There was no way of supplying mains water to thousands of people living in Cork. This project will help to overcome that problem; it will ensure that water can be diverted to homes and businesses in the event of any future problems with the Lee Road plant.
This allocation of funding advances the commitment in the Programme for Government to invest in our water infrastructure, to ensure that there is an adequate supply as well as meeting the highest international standards. Locally, this is an extremely important scheme and it is important that Cork City Council now proceeds to tendering and delivery phases as soon as possible.