Dublin City Council is moving towards the proposed completion of the final phase of the Dublin Bay Project.
This Project aims to extend the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Works to its full intended capacity and also to end the discharge of treated water at the Liffey River Estuary, moving it instead to a new point further offshore.
The proposed new offshore location would be approximately 9 kilometres out from the Poolbeg Peninsula and would take advantage of improved dilution and dispersion due to greater water depths and stronger tidal currents. It would also be further away from Dublin’s bathing waters and wildlife sanctuaries.
Building on the successes of the earlier phases of the Dublin Bay Project, this would further improve the value of the bay and estuary as cherished public amenities.
Why is it being done?
In the future, it is intended that wastewater from the Greater Dublin area will be treated at the extended Ringsend Plant as well as at a new plant being planned in North County Dublin. Both projects are part of the Greater Dublin Drainage Initiative. This initiative is about providing long term sustainable wastewater drainage and treatment for the Greater Dublin Area. It aims to provide the required drainage infrastructure to allow the Greater Dublin Area to continue to develop, both socially and economically into the future.
What will happen at Ringsend?
It’s intended that the Ringsend Plant will be extended to achieve the maximum capacity possible on the existing site. It’s current capacity is 1.6 million population equivalent (P.E) and this phase would aim to raise this by a further 500,000 to 2.1 million P.E. while still producing treated water of the same high quality and dispersing it through a new long sea outfall tunnel under the seabed to a discharge point 9 kilometres offshore.
This approach is considered by the Project Team as the most sustainable of all the available alternatives; it will use less energy, fewer chemicals, and produce less sludge to be treated and disposed. As a result, greenhouse gas emissions are much reduced. The outfall discharge will also be future-proofed by considering the potential rise in sea level over its projected 100 year life.
Environmental Impact Studies have determined that providing secondary treatment with an ocean outfall discharge would be the most beneficial option for the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Works Extension. All potential impacts are being assessed and appropriate mitigation measures specified.
The EIS will be on public display from the 13th April to the 25th May 2012 inclusive at both the Dublin City Council Planning Counter, Block 4, Ground Floor, Civic Offices and also at the Ringsend Library, Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 4. A copy of the EIS can also be downloaded from the link below. The EIS will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála on the 13th April 2012.
Observations and submissions to An Bord Pleanála, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1 are invited during the EIS display dates indicated above in relation to
- the implications of the proposed development for proper planning and sustainable development in the area concerned, and
- the likely effects on the environment of the proposed development
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