Major challenges and achievements in 2024

Uisce Éireann plays a critical role supporting growth and development at local and national level

In line with the Government’s Water Services Policy Statement, our Strategic Funding Plan sets out our ambition for public water services in Ireland and our Capital Investment Plans set out our capital investment priorities over 5-year revenue cycles. From 2020 to 2024, we have invested approximately €5.4bn upgrading and improving water and wastewater services infrastructure and assets across the country to improve the quality of life for the people of Ireland, protect our environment and grow our economy. In 2024, Uisce Éireann invested €1.372bn in water and wastewater infrastructure. However, the building, repair and upgrading of critical water infrastructure requires a multi-billion-euro investment programme over many years. Uisce Éireann has benefited from consistent support from Government, to deliver for communities, most recently on funding announcements and approval in principle for the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region to go to planning. Uisce Éireann takes into consideration national policies and plans which have a dependence on the public water and wastewater infrastructure such as housing policies, job growth policies, and climate action plans. Uisce Éireann is also guided by regulatory standards and policies such as the drinking water and wastewater regulations, taking into consideration our funding framework and legal obligations.

Under the draft Water Services Strategic Plan (WSSP) 2050 Uisce Éireann is required to quantify and articulate long-term investment needs for our water and wastewater assets. Our estimates indicate that, in the period up to 2050, a minimum capital investment of circa €55-60 billion (in 2022 monies) will be required to address the known needs and risks to water and wastewater service delivery to current standards. A significant capital spend is required every year to ensure serviceability levels are maintained across our large range of infrastructure assets and as we invest in more sophisticated plants as regulatory standards change. The total need will exceed this, so other means will be essential to bridge the funding gap such as water conservation and water efficiency, collaboration with stakeholders around smarter ways to achieve wastewater compliance, innovation and new procurement approaches which would require multi-annual funding certainty. In the absence of this level of sustained investment there will be risks to service delivery and associated pressures on operational expenditure to maintain service levels.

Uisce Éireann plays a pivotal role in meeting the demand for housing

Uisce Éireann has a central role in supporting sustainable commercial growth and the development and delivery of housing, under the Government’s Housing for All strategy. Uisce Éireann plays a central role in meeting the housing supply challenge, working in partnership with Local Authorities and developers. Continued investment in water infrastructure will be required in the years ahead to continue to facilitate housing development in line with current policy and additional funding will be needed should more ambitious housing targets be set by Government.

Uisce Éireann have identified an estimated 342 High Growth Areas, a significant number of these areas are not currently serviced by water infrastructure. To deliver new or more ambitious housing targets we believe that concentrated sustainable development is a necessary condition to enable the efficient delivery of water services to support future housing targets for the allocated funds.

In 2024, we issued positive responses to 3,041 pre connection enquiries associated with 114,981 housing units and issued 5,508 connection offers associated with 52,133 housing units. Uisce Éireann issued only 200 refusals associated with 192 housing units nationally in 2024. The majority of refusals were associated with one-off single houses or small housing developments. Customers accepted 4,252 offers associated with 41,169 housing units.

Future proofing and meeting the needs of a growing economy and population

In 2024, we enhanced the resilience of water and wastewater services. We increased water and wastewater treatment capacity by constructing new plants or upgrading existing ones. We also laid new watermain and sewer main and rehabilitated the existing networks. However, there are capacity constraints for both water and wastewater services in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA). A long-term solution will require continued leakage reductions, new water treatment capacity and a new source of water for the GDA, together with the additional capacity to treat the wastewater. Both the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region and the Greater Dublin Drainage project will provide the essential increase in service capacity.

“To deliver new or more ambitious housing targets we believe that concentrated sustainable development is a necessary condition to enable the efficient delivery of water services to support future housing targets.”

Capacity constraints

In the Greater Dublin Area which includes Dublin and parts of Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, there is an increasing demand on the current water supply. Significant population and economic growth over and above forecasts in the GDA in the last three years means, there is an increasing risk, there will be a shortage of water for all customers within the next five years. This shortage can only adequately be addressed by prioritising the delivery of the Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region (WSP) and the Greater Dublin Drainage project.

Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region

Water supply in the Eastern and Midlands Region faces several serious challenges. Currently a single source, the River Liffey, supplies 85% of the water requirements for 1.7 million people in the Greater Dublin Area. This dependency on the River Liffey (and the two main treatment plants of Ballymore Eustace and Leixlip) results in a serious vulnerability to risks such as prolonged drought and/ or contamination. Exposure to this key vulnerability is endured daily and can only be addressed through a new independent water source for the Greater Dublin Area and the Eastern and Midlands Region. Population growth, economic growth and climate change will exacerbate the region’s water supply challenges even further.
The Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region forms a key part of Uisce Éireann’s long-term strategy to increase supply resilience and levels of service in the region by creating a major new source of water to meet anticipated supply demands to 2050. The Water Supply Project Eastern and Midlands Region will provide capacity for offtakes along the route to supply communities in Tipperary, Offaly and Westmeath. It will enable supplies serving Dublin to be redirected back locally in Carlow, Wicklow, Meath and Louth. It will also allow for tighter management and operational controls over water quality.
Uisce Éireann has conducted extensive environmental studies and has engaged with over 1,500 stakeholders through the four rounds of non-statutory consultation including with affected landowners.
In July 2024, a major project milestone was reached when the Government approved the preliminary business case for the project under the Infrastructure Guidelines. This approval in principle has enabled the project to proceed to a further round of non-statutory consultation in advance of the submission of a Strategic Infrastructure Development planning application to An Bord Pleanála in Q4 2025, subject to external dependencies.

Greater Dublin Drainage Project

As our population and economy grows, so too does the volume of wastewater. The amount of wastewater generated in greater Dublin is projected to increase by over 50% in the period to 2050. We must collect and treat this wastewater so that the treated water can be safely returned to the environment.
The Greater Dublin Drainage Project involves the construction of a new wastewater treatment facility in north Dublin, along with associated infrastructure to serve parts of Dublin, Meath and Kildare. This new infrastructure will provide much needed additional treatment capacity for the region, once the country’s largest wastewater treatment facility at Ringsend reaches its maximum upgrade capacity later this decade.
In June 2024, An Bord Pleanála (ABP) held a statutory consultation on the Greater Dublin Drainage project, following which Uisce Éireann provided a response to An Bord Pleanála on the submissions for their consideration. An Board Pleanála will consider the further information submitted, as well as any submissions or observations received, and provide a decision in due course.

Opportunities presented by the Planning and Development Act 2024

The planning and consenting process in Ireland can often impact Uisce Éireann’s ability to provide timely delivery of water and wastewater infrastructure. It can typically take 5-7 years for a project to progress from planning to completion and 7-10 years and beyond where additional complexities arise, including but not limited to additional consents, e.g. foreshore licences (now maritime consents), compulsory purchase orders and wastewater discharge licences. Timelines can extend much further where appeals, judicial reviews and other challenges are encountered. The recently enacted Planning and Development Act 2024 seeks to achieve certainty by, for the first time, setting mandatory decision timelines for An Bord Pleanála (soon to become An Comisúin Pleanála). We anticipate, the new regime, once embedded will provide clarity and certainty on timelines.

Delivering an integrated water utility

On 1 January 2023, Irish Water transitioned to Uisce Éireann and became Ireland’s new standalone water utility, responsible for the delivery of all public water services in Ireland. During 2024, we continued to prioritise the transformation of the water sector integrating 31 different ways of delivering water services into one. The transition of water services staff into Uisce Éireann, along with filling vacancies, and enabling the integration of all our people in our new shared organisation continues. This work is vital so that we can fully deliver on the benefits of a national water authority model with strong local teams delivering in and for our communities. Under the Government’s framework for the Future Delivery of Water Services (the Framework), all staff will remain in the direct employment of their Local Authority on their current terms and conditions unless they choose to voluntarily transfer to Uisce Éireann. Ongoing engagement will continue with all remaining water services staff who may consider transferring across to Uisce Éireann up to the end of 2026. The dedicated Transformation Programme Team have been progressing the transition on a phased basis, with the primary focus being on stability of operations, service continuity and safety of both staff and public health. The transformation project will deliver long term benefits through developing centres of expertise in support of front-line operations, contingency and resilience planning, monitoring and automation through technology deployment and improved work practices and standards.

Two pictures next to each other, one showing a pier setting with one person in the water as another jumps in. Another swimmer is looking on. All are wearing wetsuits and swim hats. The other picture is showing a medical setting with medical professional with full gown up washing hands at a large medical handwashing facility.

Progress against strategic objectives

CUSTOMER

We are committed to delivering safe, secure and reliable water and wastewater services for our customers and communities. Our focus is on becoming a more customer centric organisation, continuously seeking to improve our customer experience by leveraging new technologies to develop and enhance our customer facing channels and building our communication strategies.

Uisce Éireann launched its new free-to-use Text Alerts Service in August 2024, providing water supply updates and information to customers across 1.8 million households and businesses. The text alert is the first time that all Uisce Éireann’s customers will be able to opt-in and receive notifications for their individual home. The service provides customers with details of supply interruptions that are expected to last longer than four hours. It also includes details on planned and unplanned outages and boil water notices should they be needed to protect public health. The text alerts service builds on communications already in place and the need to support customers is clear. Data from Uisce Éireann shows it responded and managed over 14,000 planned and unplanned outages in 2024 with over 95% resolved in under 24 hours.

Uisce Éireann recognises the need to have strong contingency plans in place to ensure we can support our customers during periods where we experience significant customer contact demand due to adverse weather conditions. In partnership with our contact centre provider, we focus on planning, structure and protocols to ensure business continuity for core customer services during such extreme weather periods that are becoming more and more frequent in Ireland.

QUALITY

Water quality

The protection of public health is a priority for Uisce Éireann and we have made significant progress in identifying and addressing risks to public drinking water supplies over the years. In July 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published Drinking Water Quality in Public Supplies 2023. It was reported that over 99.7% of public water supplies comply with bacterial and chemical limits, which means that the public water supply is safe to drink and compliance remains high.

As part of our efforts to safeguard public water supplies, 8,500 samples were taken in 2024 and approximately 199,000 individual tests were carried out. Sampling results for each public water supply are published on our website.

Our National Operations Management Centre based in Dublin operates 24/7 and is now monitoring alarms at 517 of our water treatment plants, covering a population of approximately 3.8 million. We rely on these activities to maintain high quality standards, so that, when necessary, we can put a Boil Water Notice (BWN) or Do Not Consume Notice in place until we can rectify the situation and ensure water supplies are safe to drink.

Our commitment to ensuring our customers continue to have safe, clean drinking water brings with it its own challenges. In the past twelve months 32 BWNs were issued and 37 BWNs were rescinded, 72% of notices issued in 2024 were lifted within 30 days. BWNs were served on a population of circa 91,000. At the end of the year, there were 5 BWNs in place, impacting a population of circa 17,465.

The EPA maintains a list, known as the Remedial Action List (RAL), of all water treatment plants deemed to be at risk of producing non-compliant water. It publishes this twice a year. At the start of the year there were 57 supplies on the list. We completed works at 14 supplies to meet the EPA’s required standards and the EPA added 2 supplies to the list during the year, resulting in 45 supplies on the list at the end of 2024.

We have prioritised investment in the schemes identified in the Court of Justice of the European Union infringement case as at risk from Trihalomethanes (THM) exceedances. Of the original 74 public water supplies included in the first European Court of Justice infringement letter, all but 5 of these have now been addressed. For those that remain, we have comprehensive plans in place to address the issues. We are working hard to address issues with supplies currently on the RAL to bring them up to the EPA’s required standard for removal.

The Drinking Water Safety Plan team was stood up to meet compliance with the Drinking Water Directive.

In 2024, several national works programmes saw progress on:

The delivery of reservoir cleaning and refurbishment, telemetry monitoring of critical operating parameters, safety programmes and water quality programmes.
The upgrade of 8 sites were completed via the Coagulation, Filtration and Clarification (CFC) Programme. This involves the installation of new or upgraded CFC filtration facilities in water treatment plants to reduce the risk of non-compliance.
The treatment of lead in drinking water via orthophosphate commenced, as detailed in the Lead in Drinking Water Mitigation Plan.

Rationalisation is achieved by decommissioning a plant and laying a water main connection to a neighbouring treatment plant producing drinking water more efficiently and/ or to a higher quality. During 2024, 8 water treatment plants were rationalised.

To ensure Ireland has a safe, sustainable, secure and reliable drinking water supply for everyone in the decades to come, Uisce Éireann has developed the country’s first National Water Resources Plan (NWRP). It is made up of four Regional Water Resources Plans (RWRP) which consider more than 520 water resource zones and identifies individual needs.

Aerial view of a meandering river at the end of a water treamtment plant amongst a vast area of green fields in sunshine.

“To ensure Ireland has a safe, sustainable, secure and reliable drinking water supply for everyone in the decades to come, Uisce Éireann has developed the country’s first National Water Resources Plan (NWRP).”

Wastewater quality

Adequate wastewater treatment capacity is vital to protect public health, safeguard the environment and facilitate social and economic growth. As our population and economy grows, so too does the volume of wastewater. We must collect and treat this wastewater so that treated water can be safely returned to the environment.

Uisce Éireann now operates over 1,000 wastewater treatment plants, over 2,200 wastewater pumping stations and circa 26,000km of sewer network. In 2024, over 90% of Ireland’s treatment plants were fully compliant with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. For those plants that are not currently achieving compliance, Uisce Éireann has a plan of action to address any deficiencies and bring them up to the appropriate standard as quickly as possible. We prioritise areas with the greatest need/ risk. We are constructing or have completed projects in 41 out of 50 locations where raw sewage was discharging from the public network into receiving waters with the remaining 9 in planning and design. The building, repair and upgrading of Ireland’s wastewater treatment plants and sewer network will require a multi-billion-euro investment programme over many years. Uisce Éireann has optimised investment decisions by prioritising the best possible service improvements, while maximising value for money. To date we have built new wastewater infrastructure in 34 locations where no treatment existed before, and a further 7 are under construction.

Key milestones reached in 2024 include the completion of works to eliminate raw sewage discharges in Kilrush, Coolatee, and Omeath and commencement in Avoca.

The EPA maintains a Priority Action List (PAL) for areas where it deems wastewater treatment improvements are needed. Uisce Éireann is progressing plans or assessments. During 2024, 13 agglomerations were removed and the EPA added 8 agglomerations, leaving 75 on the list. Uisce Éireann has worked to ensure communities with no wastewater treatment have been connected to new treatment plants and existing plants have been upgraded to improve the capacity and quality of treatment.

In a judgment on 28 March 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union found that Ireland was not in compliance with Articles 3, 4, 5 and 12 of Directive 91/271 in relation to the treatment of urban wastewater at 28 named agglomerations across Ireland. In response Ireland agreed to deliver a detailed programme of works and other measures to ensure full compliance with the judgment. The programme primarily consists of capital works projects to bring the named agglomerations into compliance with the Directive including assessment works currently taking place in Fermoy, Mallow and Roscommon. As at the end of 2024, works had been completed on 21 of the 28 named agglomerations.

We are addressing challenges in our wastewater networks through our Drainage Area Plans with a focus on environmental compliance, customer service and growth. We are also progressing the Critical Sewer Surveys to assess the Sewer Rehabilitation Prioritisation Programme.

Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant

The major upgrade to the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant will enable it to treat the increasing volumes of wastewater arriving at the plant to the required standard, enabling additional housing and commercial development. The project will deliver, on a phased basis, the capacity to treat the wastewater for a population equivalent of 2.4 million while achieving the standards of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive.

There are four key elements to the upgrade project:

Provision of a capacity upgrade facility with nutrient reduction (400,000 population equivalent).
Upgrade of the 24 existing secondary treatment tanks to provide additional capacity.
Provision of a new phosphorous recovery facility.
Expansion of the plant’s sludge treatment facilities.

Uisce Éireann completed construction of the infrastructure in Ringsend to treat the wastewater for a population equivalent of 2.1 million at the end of 2023. Following a period of testing and commissioning the upgraded assets are operational and effluent quality has improved significantly in 2024. Compliance with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive is assessed retrospectively based on the attainment of 12 months compliance with the UWWTD Emission Limit Values (ELVs). We are monitoring the performance of the plant closely with a view to achieving this at the earliest possible time.

The upgrade project continued to progress to plan throughout 2024 with works continuing on the upgrade of the 24 existing secondary treatment tanks to provide additional capacity and nutrient reduction. Uisce Éireann also made good progress on the expansion of the plant’s sludge treatment facilities.

Athlone Main Drainage on schedule for completion in 2025

The Athlone Main Drainage Project is one of Uisce Éireann’s largest projects to date, representing an investment of circa €114m, and remains on track for completion by the end of 2025. The project involves the construction of new pumping stations at Golden Island and Coosan West, and almost 3km of new sewers. The existing under-performing pumping stations and pipework will be decommissioned. Combined sewer overflows will be eliminated at six locations along the River Shannon and will be replaced by two new stormwater overflows designed to meet current licencing standards, improving water quality, and protecting the environment.

The works carried out as part of this project will:

Reduce the risk of overflows and out of sewer flooding through the provision of increased sewer sizes.
Improve the water quality in the River Shannon.
Increase the capacity of the sewer network allowing for development and population growth in Athlone.
Ensure compliance with Irish and European Union wastewater legislation.

Arklow Wastewater Treatment Plant will deliver environmental benefits for the local community

The provision of a new wastewater treatment plant in Arklow in 2025 will bring benefits to the town and surrounding areas in terms of health, environmental protection and improved water quality for all. Arklow has been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency, as an area where wastewater is discharged into the Avoca River without any treatment. This practice of discharging untreated wastewater to the river is no longer acceptable and Uisce Éireann intends to fix this problem in partnership with Wicklow County Council.

The project will:

Provide economic growth and commercial development of Arklow town and the surrounding areas.
Improve water quality in the Avoca River.
Enhance the amenity value of the town and the surrounding areas.
Encourage social development and further growth.

Aerial view of both sides of a dam as water gushed through. A walkway over the dam is evident.

CONSERVATION

Uisce Éireann continues to prioritise leakage reduction which is a complex and complicated problem due to the scale of the water network (>65,000km) and because leaks happen in the vast and complex network of pipes below ground. Many of these pipes are now old and damaged and need to be repaired or replaced to improve our water quality and supply. In late 2023, Uisce Éireann commenced several studies into the components that underpin our water balance and leakage (or unaccounted for water) calculations. The indicative results of these studies indicate that the estimated portion of our calculations is likely to understate consumption and thus overstate leakage. These studies are nearing completion and will be shared with the appropriate regulators in advance of final publication. This exercise and associated management systems will also improve targeting of leakage programmes. In the interim, and pending the implementation of the study outcomes, we are publishing interim leakage data for 2023 and 2024 in this report. In 2018 the National Leakage Reduction Programme was set up, with the rate of leakage nationally at 46% and was reduced to 38% in 2024, 32% in GDA and 41% in non-GDA, detail performance per year are included within the key performance indicator section of this report. These figures are on a 12-month rolling average basis, to 1 October of each year, and when the studies referred to are completed, these percentages will be adjusted accordingly. We are committed to reducing the national leakage rate further to 25% by the end of 2030 and to below 20% in the Greater Dublin Area.

During periods of extreme weather, Uisce Éireann monitors the levels at all water supply zones and clearly communicates about any localised issues as they arise to reduce demand and protect supplies. Extreme cold weather tends to result in higher leakage rates in mains and services due to frost related expansion or contraction.

In 2024, Uisce Éireann’s Water Stewardship Programme surpassed expectations, training over 950 water stewards and contributing to over 2,000 national water conservation projects to date. Strategic partnerships with organisations such as Industrial Development Agency, and Enterprise Ireland has extended the programme’s impact, while participation in international forums like World Water Week showcased Uisce Éireann as a global leader in water sustainability. The programme also played a pivotal role in achieving Business Working Responsibly accreditation, further demonstrating Uisce Éireann’s commitment to sustainability leadership.

Operating review