Coffey Construction Ireland has made significant progress on the development of a new state-of-the-art reservoir in Saggart, Dublin.

The project will help safeguard the water supply to homes and businesses in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) by increasing the security and resilience of the drinking water supply to homes and businesses, facilitating future growth and development in southwest Dublin and addressing the current and medium-term water supply demands of the GDA.

The project involves the construction of a new, covered, treated storage reservoir and associated pipelines, which will have the capacity to store 100 million litres of treated drinking water, the equivalent of 40 Olympic sized swimming pools, supplied from Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant, the largest water treatment plant in the country. It will also include a new electro chlorination plant and associated infrastructure as well as the construction of approximately 680 metres of the new Slade Valley trail which will run along the boundary of Irish Water's site and has been incorporated into the design of the works at the reservoir site. This is the first section of the trail to be constructed within the town limits of Saggart.

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This upgrade marks the first significant investment in the existing Saggart waterworks since it was built in the 1950s. The current waterworks will be replaced with a new state-of-the-art reservoir, which will provide increased treated drinking water storage and new infrastructure that is critical for our communities and our economy to grow and develop. This project is one of a number of critical steps in safeguarding Dublin’s water supply to ensure it is capable of meeting current and future demand.

The works, which began in March, are progressing well with construction on the main reservoir structure and inlet valve house already underway. Works to divert the existing supply pipeline have been completed and existing reservoir structures have been removed.

Stephen Seymour, Portfolio Delivery Manager with Irish Water, said: "The delivery of this significant project will improve security and resilience of supply to the Greater Dublin Area, as well as supporting future growth and development. It is one of a number of water projects in the GDA that will provide the infrastructure needed to support the building of houses and schools, to attract new industry and to allow companies to expand and grow.

"The size and scale of the task to improve water services for a modern, growing economy shouldn’t be underestimated. We have made significant progress but there is work still to do as we continue to build world class water infrastructure through our multi-billion programme of investment.

"The new reservoir will have the capacity to store enough water to supply almost 300,000 homes with the water they need for one day. It is one of a portfolio of water projects that we are delivering to safeguard the water supply to homes and businesses."

The project is being delivered on behalf of Irish Water by Coffey Construction Ireland and is expected to be completed within 3 years.