Site investigation works for a major water infrastructure upgrade for Letterkenny is due get underway within the next few weeks.
Uisce Éireann has revealed plans to enhance the town’s water supply infrastructure, which is currently struggling with limited capacity. The works will involve the laying of a trunk water main from Buncrana to Letterkenny, the upgrade and extension of the treatment facilities at Illies Water Treatment Plant, construction of new reservoirs and the upgrade of the pumping station at Buhullion.
Letterkenny Councillor Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly has welcomed the announcement, with the works set to benefit 29,000 customers in the Letterkenny and wider area.
“Once this project is up and running it’s going to be a massive development to Letterkenny as a whole, particularly ahead of the development of 170 houses at Ballymacool and 175 houses at the High Road project,” Cllr Kelly said.
Crews from Whiteford Geoservices Ltd, working on behalf of Uisce Éireann, will be on site in the coming weeks for the investigative works.
Cllr Kelly has a motion lodged with the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District tomorrow, calling on the council to ensure that the upgrading of infrastructure such as water and road network is included in conjunction with the Ballymacool housing development.
“I am glad this news is coming though before the meeting,” Cllr Kelly said.
“With all the water issues that we have now within Letterkenny and surrounding areas, hopefully now with this infrastructure in place it will bring major improvements in each area.
“I hope this commitment will see improvements in all surrounding areas such as Newmills, Tullygay and Bomany.
“Water infrastructure upgrades is something that I have been pushing hard for the last number of years.
“I’m glad to see now that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that Uisce Eireann is committed now and will be carrying out site investigations.
“It’s very timely for the future development of Letterkenny.”
Uisce Éireann’s John McElwaine explained that the Letterkenny Water Supply Zone project is a significant investment for the region and investigative works are necessary to progress the project to the next stage.
These works will take place at our sites and along the route of the new trunk water main, but I can assure the people of Donegal that areas of works will be limited to short sections to minimise impact.
“Traffic management will be in place in the benefitting communities in the coming weeks, but crews will make every effort to minimise disruption and local and emergency traffic will be maintained at all times.
“Our long-term plans to upgrade the existing infrastructure and network will deliver a reliable water supply for generations to come.”
