£200m project for sewage treatment in Dublin outlined

DUBLIN Corporation, announcing its plan yesterday to end the dumping of raw sewage in the sea, said that a two month public consultation process would precede the £200 million project to grade sewage treatment in the city and improve Dublin Bay water equality.

The project features the building of a new underwater pipeline to carry sewage across Dublin Bay from Sutton for advanced "tertiary treatment" at Ringsend.

When the project is completed, Dublin will become "the only EU, capital where a saltwater swim is the most popular way of spending lunchtime", according to a public exhibition opened by the corporation yesterday.

At present, Dublin is probably the only EU capital still dumping raw sewage in its waters up to 40 million gallons of it every day, from a pipe off the nose of Howth. On top of this, three boatloads of sludge - the production of primary treatment of wastewater at the treatment plant in Ringsend - are dumped each week 12 miles offshore.

However, under an EU directive, the dumping of sludge at sea must cease by January 1st 1999. This directive, and growing public concern about water quality in Dublin Bay, were cited by the city engineer, Mr Jim Fenwick, as the main reasons for going ahead with the project.

By the year 2000, the corporation plans to upgrade the plant at Ringsend to meet EU and Irish water quality standards. A new pumping station is to be built in Sutton and an underwater pipeline will be laid to take wastewater from this station for treatment in Ringsend.

About 85 per cent of the construction costs of £150-200 million will be met from the EU's Cohesion Fund. The operating costs are put at £8-10 million a year.

The corporation's plan to build a pumping site on one of four sites in Sutton has already attracted local opposition. One proposed site is on the seafront, another on land owned by Suttonians rugby club and a third on sports grounds at St Fintan's School. The other site, close to the DART station and owned by CIE, is unused at present, but if selected for the pumping site would also provide additional commuter parking.

Mr Fenwick promised yesterday that the station would be designed to the same standard as the "award winning" pumping station at the West Pier in Dun Laoghaire.

Under the plan, sewage from Dublin city and north Dublin will receive tertiary treatment at Ringsend. After preliminary treatment to remove materials by screening and settlement, the wastewater will then be subjected to a three stage process. During this process suspended solids are allowed to settle and are removed as sludge; organic matter is broken down biologically and then removed as sludge; and further treatment is carried out, such as the removal of ammonia and nitrogen, as well as disinfection using ultra violet light.

The underwater pipeline will take about eight months to lay. Most of the work will be carried out in the winter months, so the birdlife on Bull Island will be "largely undisturbed", the corporation says.

"There are a number of tangible benefits to what we are proposing. We'll have bathing water quality in Dublin Bay. The water quality at Dollymount will help the strand there qualify for Blue Flag status. And the area surrounding the Ringsend treatment, including the lovely walk down the South Wall, will be free from odours", said Mr Fenwick.

The corporation exhibition is open to the public at the Ringsend Technical Institute between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. this week, and on Saturday until 5 p.m. It will be on display at Suttonians rugby club between March 19th and 23rd before moving to the Civic Offices at Wood Quay for a month from March 26th.

After the public consultation phase, an environmental impact study will be carried out this summer. When this is published in the autumn the Minister for the Environment will assess the project and seek comments from interested parties on the EIS.

Mr John Gormley of the Green Party welcomed the project but called for bathing water quality to be ensured for Ringsend and Sandymount in addition to Dollymount.

Once the project is certified by the Minister, Dublin Corporation will put it out to tender.