A €59 million project to build a new 100 million litre reservoir in Saggart, Dublin, is making great strides forward.

Irish Water is working with Dublin City Council and South Dublin County Council to progress the scheme, which will help safeguard the water supply to homes and businesses in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA).

Under the project, a new covered, water storage reservoir and associated pipelines will be built, which will have the capacity to store 100 million litres of treated drinking water from Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant.

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 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.

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The works, which began in March 2021, are almost at the halfway point, with construction on the main reservoir structure and inlet valve house well underway. The inlet structure and reservoir floor are significantly complete, while construction of the reservoir walls recently commenced.

Speaking about the project, Alan Morrissey, Regional Delivery Lead with Irish Water, said: "The delivery of this significant project will improve security and resilience of supply to the Greater Dublin Area. 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."

RPS Group Limited is providing technical assistance to Irish Water on the project. It is being delivered on behalf of Irish Water by Coffey Construction Ireland Limited. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.