COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 13, 2020

QUESTION NO.15

QUESTION: Councillor C. O'Connor

To ask the Chief Executive if he is concerned about the water supply levels to our County; what contacts has he made in respect of the matter and will he make a statement?

REPLY:

The water supply to SDCC is part of the Greater Dublin Regional water supply network which is mainly supplied with water from the Liffey catchment treated at Ballymore-Eustace Water Treament Plant (53%) and Leixlip Water Treatment Plant (31%), with other smaller supplies including Ballyboden and Roundwood.  There are 4 water supply zones in SDCC with our largest supply reservoirs at Saggart, Belgard, Peamount and Kiltalown.  Water supply zones are managed closely by Irish Water and the Dublin region LA's to ensure quality and quantity meets all applicable requirements, particularly the Drinking Water Regulations.

Irish Water have recently completed a project to provide a 1,200mm diameter link between the 2 largest reservoirs in SDCC, Peamount and Saggart.  This will considerably improve the ability to move water to where it's most needed in SDCC.  Commissioning of this project is underway with expected completion in July.  On completion it is planned to increase the area supplied from Peamount Reservoir.  

SDCC works with Irish Water under a service level agreement and is in constant contact regarding water supply and wastewater drainage. 

In regard to the question above Irish Water provided the following response on the 3rd July:   

A National Water Conservation Order was put in place on 9 June and was expected to remain in place until 21 July. It was issued in a bid to safeguard water supplies for essential purposes, in particular water needed for sanitation purposes during the COVID-19 crisis.

Met Eireann confirmed that May 2020 was the driest since 1850 and continued dry weather was forecast. When the Water Conservation Order was issued 27 of Irish Waters 900 drinking water schemes, were in drought with another 50 at risk of going into drought. Thereafter the situation deteriorated rapidly with the number of schemes in drought or at risk of drought peaking at 98.

Thankfully from a water supply perspective, over the past weeks there has been above average rainfall in many areas of the country. This has resulted in the recovery of some of the water supplies that were in drought or at risk of drought. Currently only 22 schemes remain in drought and a further 63 are at risk. While the overall numbers are trending downwards, the situation is not uniform across the country. Two schemes that supply South Dublin i.e. Ballymore Eustace and Leixlip, were in drought when the Water Conservation Order was first put in place. However, the status of Leixlip and Ballymore Eustace has now been re-classified to potential drought.

Irish Water is continuing to monitor these water sources as their recovery is fragile and subject to change. Early next week Irish Water will again meet with Met Eireann, the OPW, the EPA and other key stakeholders to discuss the impact of the recent rainfall with consideration to lifting or partially lifting the Water Conservation Order.

It is still essential that members of the public in South Dublin continue to conserve water and form good household habits at this time. Any non-essential use of water should be discouraged, whether we are in a drought or not.

We would like to thank the people of South Dublin for their efforts in conserving water in their homes and gardens over the past number of weeks and our large water users who have worked proactively with us to use water more efficiently in their businesses.