Irish Water's plans to spend a further €300 million on upgrading the State's largest municipal sewage treatment plant at Ringsend, in Dublin, underlines the importance of having a clear, long-term focus on investment in water services.
Once a very rudimentary facility, where solids were separated from liquids before the former were dumped off the nose of Howth and the latter discharged into the inner bay, the plant has already been upgraded by Dublin City Council. But now it needs 50 per cent more capacity to process sewage generated by a population equivalent of 2.4 million people, with mid-2020 set as the completion date.
Having failed EU water quality tests in recent years and previously caused noxious odours as far west as Donnybrook, the Ringsend plant is no longer fit for purpose. The city council's proposed solution of constructing a 9km pipeline into the Irish Sea – approved by An Bord Pleanála in 2012 – has been reviewed and found wanting by Irish Water.
Instead, the State-owned utility intends to adopt relatively new aerobic granulation technology, which involves the removal of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus, allowing treated waste water to be discharged into the sea with no adverse consequences for bathing water quality.
Irish Water, a political whipping-boy since it was established in 2014, must be seen to be busy addressing issues that fall under its remit, whether bringing to an end "boil water" notices in Co Roscommon or dealing with deficiencies in sewage treatment so that Ireland will be in a position to comply with the EU water framework directive by 2020.
This will inevitably involve investing serious money in eliminating raw sewage discharges from smaller towns as well as ensuring that everyone is supplied with potable water of the highest quality.
How all of this could be funded if water charges – and Irish Water itself – were abolished, as some politicians are demanding, is a moot point. Given the scale of investment needed over the next 10 years or more, the only alternative would be to increase taxes to foot what will be a very substantial bill.