WATER SERVICES DEPARTMENT

Few public services are more crucial than the supply and maintenance of water quality.  The work of the Water Services Section of Carlow County Council includes the operation and maintenance of twenty water supply schemes and thirty four wastewater/drainage schemes. It offers assistance to group water supply schemes and is responsible for the design and construction of new water and waste water schemes.

Carlow County Council as Sanitary Authority supplies approx 15,900 m3 (3.5 million gallons) of water per day to 11,200 properties throughout the county. In supplying and distributing this water the Council must maintain approximately 500km of pipeline and comply fully with the requirements of new drinking water regulations S.I. 439 of 2000. These new regulations took effect from 1st January, 2004, and have placed additional duties and more stringent monitoring burdens on sanitary authorities.

Carlow County Council provides piped sewerage and sewage treatment facilities to approximately 8,500 properties serving 29,100 people. In providing this service the Council must comply fully with the requirements of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations, 2001, and provide for full treatment and disposal of sewage sludge in accordance with the provisions of the Carlow Sludge Management Plan, 2001.

ASSESSMENT, MONITORING AND OVERALL COMPLIANCE

Carlow County Council is committed to providing water to the highest standard – ongoing monitoring and testing of the water supply is carried out by Carlow County Council and a yearly return is made to the Environmental Protection Agency with details of this monitoring. 

Carlow County Council carried out analysis on 143 check and 64 audit samples during 2006.  Furthermore Carlow County Council identified and commenced monitoring of 15 private water supplies covered by the Regulations.  The overall rate of compliance in Carlow County Council was 98% which is above the national average.  Compliance in the public water supplies was 99%. 

For more information please log onto the Carlow Local Authorities website to download the EPA Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland Reports :

www.carlow.ie/services/environment/reports/EPAIrishDrinkingWater2005.pdf

Throughout 2006 Carlow County Council carried out a detailed investigation into the cause of the cryptosporidium outbreak in 2005 including a detailed analysis of measures that could be taken to reduce the future risk of an outbreak.  For full details please refer to the Cryptosporidiosis Outbreak in Carlow Town & Environs 2005 Report which is available to download from the Carlow County Council website at the following location :
www.carlow.ie/services/environment/reports/CryptosporidiumReportFinal

The EPA Quality of Drinking Water in Ireland report referred to the Carlow Local Authorities Cryptosporidium Report as being an invaluable piece of work, the EPA recommended that all sanitary authorities should examine this report and review its implications for their own water treatment plants. 

In order to minimise the risk of cryptosporidium entering the water supply, extensive works were carried out by the Water Services Section. 

These works included :

• SION CROSS IMPROVEMENT WORKS

 

These works were primarily aimed at placing greater control on the water treatment process and included the following :

• Installation of turbidity meters to provide realtime monitoring on the performance of the water treatment process.
• Decommissioning of the older treatment stream at the works, thus reducing the capacity of the treatment works and allowing greater control over the newer treatment stream.

 

• FRIARSTOWN BOOSTER STATION

The procurement of a booster station on the water supply from Rathvilly Water Treatments Works to Carlow Town was expediated, with a temporary pumping station installed in advance of the permanent works.  The permanent works, which were completed  late in 2005  and  final  comissioning in  early  2006 now provides an additional 2,000 m3 to Carlow Town from Rathvilly. 

 CARLOW NORTH REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY SCHEME – PHASE II

The Council has completed a Preliminary Report and Polluter Pays Principle Report in respect of the Carlow North Regional Water Supply Scheme Stage II covering rural water districts 1 & 3.  The objective of this scheme is to cater for the water supply requirements of certain areas of the county up to the year 2025.  The areas include Carlow Town, Tullow, Central Regional and North Regional Water Supply Schemes.  The scheme will include the upgrade of the existing water treatment plants at Rathvilly, Tullow, Sion Cross and Raheenleigh, the provision of additional and improved storage reservoirs and distribution network improvements.

A Booster Station at Friarstown was constructed as an advance element of this scheme. 

CARLOW SURFACE WATER DRAINAGE SCHEME

The final outstanding wayleave issues on this scheme were resolved in 2005 and a certificate of planning was issued to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in December,  2005.  It is intended to proceed to construction on   advance  works in  Pembroke on  this Scheme in early 2007. 

The  Council  have  entered  in  an  agreement  with  The  Office  of  Public  Works  for  the  advancement  of  elements  of  the  Carlow  Flood  Relief  Scheme.  The  Council  are  advancing  planning  on  this  scheme  with  a  view  to  commencing  construction  in  2008.

SOUTH LEINSTER RURAL WATER DBO PROJECT

The South Leinster DBO ( Design Build and Operate) Bundle comprises a single contract bundle of group water supply and small public water supply schemes in the South Leinster area.   The scheme is aimed at remedying deficiencies in rural water quality through DBO procurement.  
The project involves the active participation and co-operation of Carlow, Laois, Kilkenny, Wexford, Kildare, and Wicklow County Councils and the respective group schemes within these Local Authority areas.    In all, there are 18 private group water supply schemes and 15 public water supply schemes in the bundle, supplying over 9,000m3 of water per day to 4,500 domestic properties serving a population of roughly 20,000 people.  There are also 1,100 non-domestic connections served by the schemes.

Tenders were received for this project in July 2005.  The cost of the Design Build phase of the contract is €7.8m.  The successful tenderer proceeded with submitting planning permissions for the treatment plants and ancillary works.  Part 8 planning has been granted for these schemes.  The contractor has also made applications to the ESB for new electricity supplies where required.  Resident Engineering Staff have been appointed for the project and are supervising €5m of Advance Works that are been carried out prior to the main DBO Contract.  EPS were appointed as the main contractor and the DB contract was signed in May 2006.  Since then work has commenced on a number of sites and the first traunch of Schemes is expected on line in August 2007 including Glynn St Mullins and Ballinabrannagh in Carlow.  Universal Metering and critical mains replacement works are also on-going.

CARLOW WATER CONSERVATION PROJECT

The purpose of this project is to quantify and minimize the amount of unaccounted for water (leakage) in Carlow’s water supply network.  The current phase of the project has seen the construction of District Metering areas throughout the county, which will facilitate the monitoring and management of water usage throughout the county.  A telemetry system was also procured which will allow all information in relation to water usage to be relayed to a central water conservation office where the information can be reviewed and acted upon.  Significant water leakage detection has taken place and a system for recording and arrange the repair of these leaks has been implemented. 

The consultants brief for the project was extended in 2005 to include the preparation of rehabilitation reports for Carlow Town and County.  This involves an assessment of the condition of and operation of the watermain network and the identification of watermains which require replacement.  These reports are due to be completed in 2007.  A funding application was made in February 2006 by Carlow County Council to the Department of Environment, Heritage & Local Government for funding to complete the Water Conservation Project for Carlow Town and County. 

The replacement of the Tullow Rising Main, which has been the subject of numerous bursts over the last few years, was procured as an advance element of the Watermain Rehabilitation Scheme in 2005.  This Scheme was  completed in early 2006 and will help ensure the continuity of water supply in Tullow.

OTHER PROJECTS

RAHEENDORAN WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS
Construction of a new Wastewater Treatment Works  to treat wastewater from the villages of Raheendoran and Ballinabrannagh was completed and  commissioned  in  2006.  The plant has been designed to provide a high quality of effluent and will treat up to 500 population equivalent.  The contract also included the construction of a new sewer system in Raheendoran to connect to the new Wastewater Treatment Works

LEIGHLINBRIDGE SEWERAGE SCHEME
Construction work has been completed on the Leighlinbridge Sewerage Improvement Scheme and is now being commissioned for permanent operation. 

WASTEWATER TREATMENT WORKS
Construction work has been completed on the provision of new or improved sewage treatment plants at Raheendoran, Ballinkillen, Ballon and Myshall. 
Work will commence in 2007 on Schemes at Palatine, Fenagh, Clonegal, Kildavin and Rathoe. 
The new treatment works at each village will improve the quality of effluent to the receiving waters at each plant and will also cater for the future development of these villages, which have all seen significant growth in recent years. 

TULLOW, HACKETSTOWN & RATHVILLY
Consulting Engineers have been engaged by Carlow County Council to prepare preliminary reports for Tullow, Hacketstown and Rathvilly waste water improvement schemes.  These reports will be completed shortly with a view towards going to tender at an early stage in 2007. 
RURAL WATER SUPPLY
In excess of €1.5m was spent by Carlow County Council in 2006 in providing solutions to poor quality rural water supply schemes.  The schemes, which were improved in 2006 are listed under the following categories;

TAKEOVER

• Shraugh
• Kilbride

SMALL SCHEMES            

• Royal Oak
• Ballon
• Myshall
• Palatine
• Fenagh
• Rathoe

NEW AND UPGRADE

• Lemonagh
• Tullow Hill

PERFORMANCE INDICATORS