River Shannon to Dublin pipeline

Dublin City Council published a plan in 2011 to supply up to 350 million litres of water a day from Lough Derg to Dublin city and region. In January 2014, Irish Water took over management of the project which is currently in the Planning Stage. It is now proposed that over two million people will benefit from the pipeline suppling not only Dublin but also an area including Arklow, Athlone, Athy, Carlow, Drogheda, Mullingar, Navan, Portaloise and Tullamore.^[1]

Preferred route

In November 2016 the Parteen Basin to the south of the lough was chosen as the proposed site of extraction. Water would be pumped via Birdhill to a break pressure tank at Knockanacree near Cloughjordan, all in County Tipperary and gravity fed from there to Peamount in Dublin.^[2][3][4][5]

Concerns

A “fight the pipe” group has been formed by those whose lands may be effected by the pipeline and its construction.^[6]

As the proposed extraction of water upstream of the ESB's hydroelectric station at Ardnacrusha may reduce the flow available for the generation of electricity, Irish Water will compensate ESB for any loss.^[7]

References