South Leinster to benefit from water treatment plants

A total of 33 new latest generation water treatment plants are to be built in South Leinster with eighteen of the new plants to be operated by the private sector.

Carlow County Council is co-ordinating the scheme. It will be undertaken on a design, build and operate (DBO) contract. Treatment plants for group water schemes will be built in counties Carlow, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Wexford and Wicklow.

The Department of the Environment will raise E8.5 million in initial finance to facilitate the scheme. This will rise to E27 million over the lifetime of the 20-year DBO contracts.
The single-contract system has never been tried in Ireland before. It will be spread across several local authorities and is similar to those used in other countries.