IRISH WATER IS to submit a planning application today, as part of a €400 million investment to upgrade the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The plant is currently operating beyond its intended design capacity, and Irish Water has said it urgently needs to upgrade the site to cope with future demand.

This latest application seeks permission for works to a number of areas, including upgrades to sludge treatment facilities and to remove the need for a long sea outfall – a 9km tunnel to relocate the discharge of treated wastewater from Ringsend out into Dublin Bay – that was included in earlier plans.

It would also facilitate the use of new technology (Aerobic Granular Sludge, or AGS) that breaks down pollutants in the water faster than would usually happen naturally, which in turn would allow Irish Water to comply with EU directives on waste water.

Irish Water said that its project in Ringsend – with €70 million already invested to date – is one of its most important in supporting the economic projections for growth in the greater Dublin area, and also protecting the environment.

Project manager Jean Hobbs said: “Having identified AGS technology as appropriate for use in the Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant, we began detailed testing and trials in April 2015 at the plant.

These trials proved hugely successful, confirming that wastewater treated by AGS technology can be safely and effectively discharged at the current outfall location while protecting the conservation designations in the Liffey Estuary and Dublin Bay.

Hobbs added that today’s application would ensure the plant operates with the “highest possible” environmental standards into the future.

The company is also set to seek planning permission in the near future for the “greater Dublin drainage project, which includes a new wastewater treatment plant in Clonshaugh, which it said will be needed from the mid-2020s to enable the northern and north-western parts of the city to continue to grow into the future.

Irish Water added that the planning application for Ringsend includes an environmental impact assessment report, and a natura impact statement that can be accessed here.

Members of the public with questions related to the project can contact Lo-call 1890 100 056 or email ringsendwwtpupgradeproject@water.ie.

Objections to the CPO may be made in writing to An Bord Pleanála, 64 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1, before 5.30pm on Tuesday 31 July, 2018.