Contracts signed for DBO expansion of Clareville Water Treatment Plant in Limerick. Clareville is Limerick City’s water treatment plant and is located on the banks of the River Shannon near Castleconnell. Water has been treated here since the end of the 19th Century and the plant has been extended at various times to meet the growing demands of the city and adjacent county areas.

Limerick City Council together with it’s sister authorities and under the auspices of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DEHLG) have now signed the contract to complete the final stage of the development of the plant. This extension will see the capacity of the plant rise to 140Ml/d and allow the plant to be designed, built and operated for a period of 20 years by a private service provider. When completed the Clareville Plant will be the main public and commercial water supply source for the greater Limerick area.

In close co-operation with the DEHLG the project was chosen as a pilot potable water treatment PPP Project. RPS Consulting Enginners were appointed as the Employer’s Representative and together with the project partners have brought it through the Planning and Procurement process. As this was a pilot scheme the project required many innovations including the development of inter authority supply and ESB (Electricity Supply Board) agreements, water abstraction licensing, stakeholder consultations, new contract conditions (built around the FIDIC model), a full 20 year asset management strategy and in particular an open and output driven approach to achieving the project objectives. These objectives include quality, safety and environmental management.

The DBO contract was awarded on the 11th of December to a Veolia/Ascon Consortium with the contract due to commence this month.