Page 30 - COBH EDITION 5th APRIL DIGITAL VERSION

Irish Water moves closer to eliminating raw sewage in Cork Lower
Harbour with the Cobh to Monkstown Estuary Crossing contract
award

The Cobh Wastewater will ultimately be pumped via this crossing to Shanbally
Wastewater Treatment Plant for safe discharge to Cork Lower Harbour

Irish Water, in partnership with Cork County Council, is working to end the decades-
long practice of discharging raw sewage directly into Cork Lower Harbour with an
investment of €144 million in the Cork Lower Harbour Main Drainage Project. Mov-
ing closer to their goal of treating the equivalent of 40,000 wheelie bins of raw sew-
age flowing into the harbour by the end of 2021, Irish Water has today awarded the
contract for the design and construction of the Cobh to Monkstown Estuary Crossing
pipelines to O’Connor Utilities Limited.
With 20,000 homes and businesses set to be connected to the new scheme on
completion, this project is important in terms of protecting the environment, facili-
tating economic development and providing for a growing population.

Significant progress has already been made on the Cork Lower Harbour Main Drain-
age Project. Since the project started, we have halved the amount of raw sewage
discharging untreated into the harbour, from the equivalent of 40,000 wheelie bins
every day to 20,000 through the construction of the Shanbally Wastewater Treat-
ment Plant and connection of Crosshaven, Carrigaline and Shanbally in Decem-
ber 2016. The network has been repaired and extended on the South side of the
estuary. Ringaskiddy was connected to the treatment plant in October 2018 and we
expect to be treating the wastewater from Passage West, Glenbrook and Monkstown
this Summer. At that stage the equivalent of 30,000 wheelie bins of sewage will be
treated daily and discharge safely to the harbour.

To allow the wastewater from Cobh’s homes and businesses to be treated at Shan-
bally Wastewater Treatment Plant, two pipes will be installed under the River Lee es-
tuary between Cobh and Monkstown as part of the Estuary Crossing contract. The
pipes will be installed using a Horizontal Directional Drilling construction technique,
which will deliver these works safely and with the minimum disruption to residents,
businesses and road users and with the least environmental impact. The Estuary
Crossing contract will take approximately 1 year to complete, and once the Cobh
Networks Contract is complete in 2021, all Cobh town’s wastewater will be connect-
ed to the WWTP at Shanbally by the Estuary Crossing pipeline for treatment before
its safe discharge to the harbour.

“The signing of the Cobh to Monkstown Estuary Crossing contract brings us another
step closer to our goal of treating the remaining 20,000 wheelie bins of raw sewage
flowing into the harbour in 2021” said Déaglán Healy, Project Manager Cork Lower
Harbour Main Drainage Project. “We are committed to working with the local com-
munity to minimise the impact where possible and to keep them informed about the
works. I would like to thank all the communities we have worked in for their pa-
tience and cooperation and I would encourage communities in Cobh and Monkstown
to contact the project team and register for regular project updates at corklower-
harbour@water.ie to help us keep you informed as we work together to clean up our
harbour.”