This map is the final agreed plan as reported by the Journal on 24th April 2018. Moving water through a pipe is a plumbing job. Water finds its own level and if its fed into a system of pipes or watermains from a height, it exerts pressure until it reaches its own gravity based level. A good plumber would laugh at the complications of Irish Water's planned plumbing to feed the Shannon water into the Dublin watermains so as to be on tap in the kitchens and bathrooms of the city. First they plan to extract the raw water, meaning rain water that drains from the land and ends up in a river bound for the sea. Normally a glass of raw river water would look slightly brown with sediment and dust that is carried with the water. They will suck it up directly from the river and pump it to a water treatment plant in Birdhill just a few miles away. Presumably this will be basically a huge concrete basin into which the untreated or raw water is dropped and any sediment in the water will drop or settle on the bottom within a few days leaving the water crystal clear to be filtered and possibly treated with their secret chemicals before being brought on to Dublin. That stage in the development could be obviated if the basin was sited right beside the extraction point on the river. From here they plan to pump the water to a 'break pressure tank' in Cloughjordan about 40 kms distant. This is one more totally unnecessary water junction on the route to Dublin. The most efficient way to do the job would be to initially filter, allow to settle and final filter the water in a large land dugout basin close to the river Shannon, this would be a dug out pond about five to ten acres in area and up to six to eight feet in depth, then raise the water by pressure pumps to a tank about 100 feet up on a steel frame from which tank the treated water would flow directly into the water mains of the city and not into another man made lake in South Dublin from which it would need to be pumped again to a high point to achieve pressure to supply the mains. Its a simple straightforward plumbing job of work but with bigger pipes, tanks and pumps. You need filters, stop valves and pressure gauges along the route to monitor and service this large plumbing network but basically it should be a single operation of raising the water to a high tank from which it is released to flow by gravity straight into the household water mains in the city. Irish Water's plan of using a two meter diameter concrete pipe to be placed underground is the stuff of nightmares because of the huge disruption and excavation, then fitting concrete pipes together is very difficult because they are in short lengths and easily fractured during the placement or later when the land is settled over. Sealing them together is almost impossible while a bank of plastic pipes on the surface are much longer lengths, easily coupled together and any breaks or leaks can be easily spotted and repaired or replaced with ready access along the canal towpath. They plan to make a pressure break tank in Cloughjordan which sounds massive and a huge unnecessary cost. So that's twice they will have to pump the water up to a height and they plan to drop it on ground in Dublin so it will have to be raised to height again a third time to feed the mains pipes of the city. The planned tank in Cloughjordan sounds like one the size of a football field and the cost can only be imagined of a huge concrete tank raised about one hundred feet in the sky. Its madness but madness does rule. These engineers clearly don't understand the basics of plumbing but then funding was never a problem for them. 1.3 billion Euros to put the Irish water users in hock forever, perhaps to justify water charges. Comparing the two pipelines is like comparing an apple with a pineapple. They don't bear any comparison. The canal line would cost a small fraction of the IW plan and could be completed in one year. This is an extract from their final report. Link below. Final Options Appraisal Report Appendix F Water Treatment Plant Site Selection 161028WSP1_FOAR Appendix F 2 The non – linear infrastructure components comprise the followings assets: Intake and Raw Water Pumping Station (FOAR Section 11.3 and Appendix E) Abstraction of raw water will be from the Lower Lake (Parteen Basin) via a submerged pipeline or open channels, which will extend a relatively short distance out into the basin. The abstraction works will incorporate a raw water pumping station which will deliver raw water to the proposed water treatment plant. Water Treatment Plant (FOAR Section 11.4 and this Appendix F) The water treatment plant will treat the raw water from Parteen Basin to Drinking Water Standards for human consumption in accordance with relevant legislation. The water treatment plant will also incorporate a high lift pumping station to deliver treated water to a Break Pressure Tank. Note: The transmission pipeline is discussed in FOAR Section 12 and Appendix I. Break Pressure Tank (FOAR Section 11.5 and Appendix G) A Break Pressure Tank (BPT) will be located at the highest elevation of the transmission pipeline and is required to manage the water pressures that will be generated in the operation of the transmission pipeline. The tank is the point at which the transmission line will change from a pumped to a gravity flow. In practice, treated water will be pumped from the water treatment plant to this tank, and the water will flow by gravity from the tank to the termination point reservoir. It will act as a balancing tank for pumped flows, e.g. from the WTP, it will help to limit variability in operating pressures, and it will provide sufficient storage such that there is adequate reserve flow to maintain the on-going pipe full after the pumps have stopped or tripped. Termination Point Reservoir (FOAR Section 11.6 and Appendix H) Located at the end of the transmission pipeline, the Termination Point Reservoir (TPR) acts as storage facility for the treated water; providing capacity to serve the varying demand profile of the Dublin Water Supply Area. The TPR will be integrated with the existing water distribution system (FOAR Section 11.7) at Peamount in south Dublin, ensuring onward transmission to end users. This Appendix F describes the multi criteria analysis (MCA) process used to appraise a Least Constrained Water Treatment Plant Site (WTP). Multi criteria analysis (MCA) is a mechanism that explicitly considers multiple criteria within a decisionmaking environment. The fundamental approach is to utilise Specialist expertise to conduct the analysis. Comparing alternatives against multiple objectives and criteria through MCA allows for a collective balancing of different impact types, understanding of the merits of each option, and the establishment of a preference ranking, in a collective way; informing and justifying the decision making process. http://www.watersupplyproject.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/appendix_f_water_treatment_plant.pdf

Shannon water piped to Dublin along the Grand Canal's cover photo

The obvious route along the Grand Canal and the Crazy route to be underground and cost billions taking many years to complete.

Irish Water have decided to pipe water from the Shannon river at Ardnacrusha power station through an underground concrete pipe and intend to excavate a route through farmland across the country all the way to Dublin to deliver a backup supply of water to the city and towns along the route. They have estimated the cost of this massive national infrastructure at 1.3 billion euros which will be borrowed using long term bonds guaranteed to be repaid by future generations of Irish people. This is basically a large scale plumbing job. A sensible, easier and far cheaper way of delivering the Shannon water to the city would be to lay a set or bank of eight inch plastic pipes along the Grand canal which has a ready made towpath all the way without any disruption or excavating farmers lands and all the consequent upheaval that entails not to mention the huge compensation that would have to be paid for the disruption and years of work and possible court challenges by landowners.

Shannon water piped to Dublin along the Grand Canal's cover photo

Shannon water piped to Dublin along the Grand Canal