Fine Gael TD for Kildare South and Chairman of the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party, Martin Heydon, has welcomed the completion of a €15.3m investment in the Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant (WTP) with the provision of a new sludge treatment process.
Deputy Martin Heydon said: “This project marks completion of one of the most strategically significant projects in public water supply in Ireland at Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant (WTP), which is the largest water treatment plant in the Country.
“The €15.3m investment in the sludge treatment process at Ballymore will secure future water supply and improve drinking water quality for the over 1,000,000 people across Dublin City, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, South Dublin County and Kildare who are served by the system. It will also support economic and social development in the area.
“The substantial investment has enabled Irish Water complete the most recent expansion of the Water Treatment Plant whilst meeting the main priorities of National Waste Management Policy to minimise waste quantities destined for disposal.
“The project involved the construction of a new sludge treatment process to meet the WTP’s ultimate capacity. The project employed a combination of centrifuge and thermal drying of the Water Treatment Plant’s sludge which has been successful in achieving a 87% reduction in the volume of sludge that required disposal to landfill. This also equates to a 169,000 km reduction in truck movements per year between the Water Treatment Plant and disposal route.
Fine Gael’s Local Representative in Ballymore Eustace, Evie Sammon said “I welcome the news that this important project has been completed. The expansion of the largest water treatment plant in the country to a treatment capacity of up to 318,000 cubic metres of drinking water per day is significant both locally and nationally and the project represents a €15.3 million investment in Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant.”