Annual Report 2005 - English Version ( pdf file - 3340 kb in size)

Limerick County Council Annual Report 2005Water SchemesThe Council, in co-operation with Limerick CityCouncil, is continuing to progress the development oftrunk water mains systems into County Limerick. Thiswill be facilitated by the planned upgrade of the CityCouncil’s water treatment plant at Clareville. Elementsof these trunk mains have already been constructedin conjunction with major road projects in the cityenvirons. Construction of further elements to servePatrickswell and Croom is imminent and planning isbeing progressed on a separate extension of the systemto serve areas of East Limerick such as Caherconlish,Cappamore, Pallasgreen, Doon and Oola.Planning continued to be progressed on advancing anupgrade of the Council’s own Shannon Estuary WaterTreatment Plant to increase production and provideenhanced environmental measures. This will alsofacilitate extension of the supply to serve Ballyhahill,Loughill, Glin and outlying areas. Finally, a contractwas awarded at the end of the year for a long-awaitedextension of the Shannon Estuary Scheme to serve thePallaskenry/Kildimo area.Small Towns & Villages InitiativeIn 2005 significant progress was made by the Councilin conjunction with private developers using a PublicPrivate Partnership approach for the provision ofadequate infrastructural services at a number oflocations throughout the county.The existing Sewage Treatment Plant has beenupgraded in Kilfinnane to cater for 1500 populationequivalent. Agreement has been finalised with anumber of developers regarding the upgrade ofCaherconlish Sewage Treatment Plant and work is dueto commence in early 2006.Planning Permissions have been secured to upgradethe existing Sewage Treatment Plants at Bruree, Bruff,Cappamore and Kilmallock. It is anticipated that workswill commence at a number of these locations during2006.In addition, planning permission is now in place fora Sewerage Scheme in Feenagh and Tenders will beinvited for this work in early 2006.The Council finances its contribution to these schemesthrough monies generated by the DevelopmentContribution Scheme in Planning.Water Conservation ProjectWater Conservation is becoming more and moreimportant in the Council’s function of delivering asafe, secure and reliable water supply to the people ofCounty Limerick.Increasing demands on limited resources meansthe benefits of the project are clearly visible. Thecost of treating, pumping, storing and deliveringwater to every home in the County is increasing.Water Conservation also has a major benefit to theenvironment, less water used, means more water staysin its natural environment.Project Staff consists of two leakage crews and aleakage foreman who have become highly skilledin the areas of leakage detection and pressuremanagement. A total of 3524 leaks have now beenidentified in the water distribution network since theproject commenced in 2002. In 2005, a total of 706leaks were identified in the network.Active leakage control and pressure managementwithin the County has resulted in water savings in theregion of 3100m 3 (682,000 gals/day) approximately.The work of the Water Conservation Staff has aidedthe Council in improving the level of service in areaswhere poor pressure is a problem. It has also continuedto facilitate development where inadequate watersupply may have been an issue.”New Sewage Treatment Plant at Kilfinnane constructedunder the Small Towns and Villages Initiative.37