Irish Water has just published a new report which identifies the Emerging Preferred Site option for the Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant and is now undertaking an eight week public consultation which will close on Friday 10th July 2015.

The report “Irish Water & Wicklow County Council, Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant, Site Assessment Report, Phase 2” describes the process undertaken in identifying Ferrybank (Old Wallboard site) as the Emerging Preferred Site with an outfall to the Irish Sea. The project includes:

• A new Wastewater Treatment Plant (WwTP) estimated to treat 36,000 PE (Population Equivalent) and associated infrastructure such as a pumping station(s);
• Pipeline(s) to bring the untreated wastewater to the WwTP and to bring treated wastewater from the plant to the outfall;
• An outfall pipe, to safely discharge the treated wastewater to the sea.

At present, untreated wastewater from homes and businesses in Arklow is discharged into the Avoca River and this practice is not acceptable. Irish Water, in partnership with Wicklow County Council, is committed to providing a new WwTP for Arklow and is calling for submissions as part of a second, non-statutory phase, of public consultation on this project.

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All feedback received from this second phase of non-statutory public consultation will be reviewed by the project team and will be used to inform the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which will be submitted to An Bord Pleanála as part of a planning application. An Bord Pleanála will then carry out a statutory consultation which will provide people with a further opportunity to have their say at that stage.
The first public consultation took place from October to December 2014 on the first phase of the site selection process, which looked for feedback on the constraints and what should be considered in choosing an Emerging Preferred Site, route pipeline and outfall location. Irish Water would like to thank all of those who took part in this first round of public consultation. A report “Consultation Report, Phase 1” summarising the issues raised, is nowavailable to view here.

For more information on the project and on how to have your say or make a submission in this second phase of consultation please visit the project page or email arklowtp@water.ie .