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Sligo and Environs Water Supply Scheme

On the 29th July 1996 the European Commission granted assistance from the Cohesion Fund to commence work on the Sligo and Environs Water Supply Scheme, Stage 1. In December 1997, a long awaited milestone in the development of water supply infrastructure for the city of Sligo and its immediate surrounding areas was finally attained, when on December 8th, the scheme formally got underway with the commencement on site of the weir rehabilitation contract. So ended a process of planning and design that dated back as far as 1976.

The Sligo and Environs Water Supply Scheme was designed to provide for the domestic, agricultural and industrial potable water requirements for Sligo and its outlying regions, to the highest possible standards in accordance with all national and E.U. legislation, thereby

• Providing adequate water supply for fire fighting within the Borough.
• The reduction of leakage in the existing water supply distribution system and the maximising of the benefit of existing resources.
• The provision of adequate water supply to eliminate the severe disruption to supply to consumers over the past summers.
• The elimination of restrictions on residential, commercial and industrial development.

Stage 1 of the scheme, at various stages of construction, comprises the following main features.

• Weir Rehabilitation and footbridge at Riverside.
• Intake, Intake pumphouse and raw water rising main on the shores of Lough Gill.
• Water treatment plant at Foxes Den to supply 11,000 m3/day.
• 15,000m3 storage reservoir at Foxes Den.
• 30km of trunk and distribution pipework in the Borough area.
• Refurbishment of the existing ozonisation water treatment plant at Carns Hill.
• Distribution pipe work to Ballintogher, Strandhill and Rosses Point. 

- 15,000m3 storage reservoir at Foxes Den

Lough Gill the source of supply is a category A2 surface water, in accordance with European Communities (Quality of Surface Water Intended for the Abstraction of Drinking Waters) Regulations 1989 (S.I. 294).

The treatment plant was sized to provide for an ultimate flow of 16,500 m3/day to be treated over a 20 hour period. The ultimate demand will not be reached for some years. The treatment works as now completed, is designed to produce 11,000 m3/day over a 20 hour period equating to 550 m3/hour.

Treated water is supplied to the city via a network of 30km of new trunk and distribution mains. The water levels in Lough Gill are controlled by a weir constructed on the Garavogue river ar Riverside. A footbridge integrated into this structure provides a much needed link from the Riverside to the Mall.

The scheme was designed by Jennings O’Donovan and Partners, Finisklin, Sligo.

Existing water supply scheme.

Prior to this scheme there were two sources of supply to the city and its environs. A gravity supply from Kilsellagh located to the north of the city and a pumped supply from Lough Gill to an ozone water treatment plant at Carns Hill.

The Kilsellagh source, whose development dates back to 1884, consists of an impounding reservoir and water treatment works comprising micro-straining, chlorination and fluoridation. Storage was provided via an open topped reservoir at Farranacardy on the pipeline route from Kilsellagh source to Sligo city. This source will be upgraded under stage 2 by Sligo Corporation.

The Lough Gill source was developed in 1973 to provide increased capacity and serve the outlying rural areas and the high level areas of Sligo that could not be served by the Kilsellagh gravity supply. Treatment is by prechlorination, microstraining, ozonisation, post chlorination and fluoridation. The Carns Hill plant still remains the only ozonisation treatment plant in the country and is currently operating at 1.5 times its design demand. As a consequence it no longer consistently produces treated water in compliance with EU drinking water directives. The provision of the additional plant at Foxes Den allows Sligo County Council the opportunity to refurbish the plant, which will be commissioned in the year 2002, ensuring that the supply meets the required standards.