‘Vital’ Vartry to Callowhill water pipeline is completed

A NEW pipeline from Vartry to Callowhill, which will supply water to more than 200,000 people, has been completed.

Dignitaries including Cllr Pat Vance, cathaoirleach of Wicklow County Council, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy, Tony Keohane, Chairman of Ervia, and Eamon Gallen, MD of Irish Water, gathered at the Vartry Water Treatment Plant on Monday to mark the significant milestone in a larger project to redevelop the Vartry Water Supply Scheme.

The 4km pipeline replaces one that had been in existence since the Vartry Water Supply was constructed in the 1860s. It old pipeline was in a poor state of repair and at risk of collapse.

Planning permission for the new pipeline from Vartry to Callowhill was granted in February 2017. Construction began in January 2018 after the contract was awarded to Roadbridge.

Cllr Pat Vance welcomed the completion of the vital and challenging project.

‘ The size and scale of the challenge in replacing 150-year-old infrastructure is not to be underestimated. I want to pay tribute to the contractor, Roadbridge, and Local Authority staff who delivered this vital project, which will benefit 200,000 people in north Wicklow and across south Dublin, on schedule, and to Irish Water for prioritising investment in this scheme,’ said Cllr Vance.

Minister Eoghan Murphy said the Vartry Water Supply Scheme was ‘amongst the most vital water infrastructure in all of Ireland’ as it provides a huge population with a ‘safe, sustainable supply of water’.

Eamon Gallen, MD of Irish Water, said the replacement of the pipeline was a ‘priority project’ because of its importance to so many people. ‘ This significant project builds on the legacy of the scheme constructed in the 1860s and will benefit the lives of those who work and live in north Wicklow and south Dublin,’ he said.

The construction of the new pipeline is part of a €200m investment in the Vartry scheme, which include upgrades to the Vartry Treatment Plant and Stillorgan Reservoir. Once completed, the upgrade will provide a safer, more secure water supply and will allow the water scheme to be removed from Remedial Action List maintained by the EPA.