Raw sewage continues to enter Cork Harbour off a section of Point Road, Crosshaven, it was pointed out at the monthly meeting of the County Council’s Carrigaline Municipal District (MD).
The Point Road is one of the most walked areas in the south and wastewater running into the beach needs to be addressed,’ said Cllr Audrey Buckley (FF).
Having discussed the matter with a wastewater engineer at the location, she asked if €25,000 could be put aside by the area office in Carrigaline for a detailed report on required works to remedy the problem. ‘Cleaning up of the harbour is a welcome programme but it is stepping over some important other areas that need to be looked at’, she added.
In support, Cllr Aidan Lombard (FG)said there was money available from the EU bank and this was the sort of project along with similar schemes needed for Graball Bay and Fountainstown that Irish Water could eventually take over.
Senior executive engineer Madeleine Healy, in reply, pointed out that the area office, having primarily a roads budget, wouldn’t even be allowed to fund such a water services report even if it had the money to do so.
Describing the situation as very frustrating, Cllr Buckley said she had been directed to the area office on the matter.
The engineer said she fully appreciated the councillor’s frustration and the need for something to be done there but repeated it was an issue for water services and ultimately one that would possibly be dealt with under the Irish Water (IW) umbrella.
Cllr Lombard suggested the matter also be referred to the county engineer and this was agreed.
MD officer Noelle Desmond said a potential solution could be funding from the MD’s General Municipal Allocation under the Village Enhancement Scheme, spending on which had yet to be decided by councillors.
It was agreed to discuss the matter again at the next meeting but Cllr D’Alton stressed it was important to know what the actual report would recommend.
In reply to The Carrigdhoun Newspaper which enquired about the situation in Crosshaven, IW issued the following e mail: ‘While the Cork Lower Harbour Main Drainage project includes for the transfer of wastewater flows from Crosshaven to the new wastewater treatment plant at Shanbally, no sewer upgrade works have been completed or are planned in Crosshaven as part of the project.
‘IW currently has no plans to extend the existing wastewater sewer network in the Crosshaven area to the unserviced area around Point Road. Such small unserviced areas without IW wastewater assets do not meet the qualifying requirements for funding under our current investment criteria.
‘If residents in the Point Road area wish to connect to the IW network, they are advised to contact IW with a pre-connection enquiry. IW will assess the feasibility of a connection to the public infrastructure and provide an indication of associated charges as part of this process. For more information on new connections, see the connections section of the IW website at https://www.water.ie/connections/
‘An alternative option may be to form a group scheme and apply for Department funding to develop a wastewater collection and treatment system, or improved on site treatment at each property,’ IW added.
Options For Extension Of Sewer Outlined In Preliminary Report
Options to extend the scheme and remedy the problem of raw sewage entering Cork Harbour along part of Point Road are outlined in a preliminary report referred to by Cllr Audrey Buckley (FF) at the monthly meeting of the County Council’s Carrigaline Municipal District.
The Carrigdhoun Newspaperhas obtained a copy of the preliminary report concerning proposed wastewater infrastructure at Point Road.
‘While large portions of Crosshaven are served by a public foul sewer network, Point Road is un-serviced. It is believed that current wastewater arrangements for properties comprise individual domestic wastewater treatment units or direct discharge into the harbour…Formulation of a solution will require extensive surveying and site investigation works before a full design can be drafted’, it states.
It points out that the existing wastewater network extends only to the western end of Point Road. However, the 225mm diameter public sewer at the western end has the capacity to serve up to 44 properties along the full length of the road.
‘Wastewater from Point Road discharges to the car park pump station and ultimately to Shanbally wastewater treatment plant. The pump station is currently at capacity and any increase in loading will require an upgrading of pumps. All other infrastructure has the capacity to service the additional properties on Point Road.
The report suggested three options for extending the gravity sewer main 1) to Monaville parking area; 2) along the full length of Point Road or 3) to Monaville parking area within the foreshore.
Option one was deemed the most likely and costings were estimated at €25,000 for design and €209,000 for construction including rock breaking and road reinstatement, making a total of €234,000.
Any connection would require a wastewater connection agreement with Irish Water (IW) with the fees €3,929 for one to five units and €3,499 for six to 100 units.
The report goes on to describe grants available for a group scheme or upgrading of the existing scheme and concludes: ‘Given the topography, ground conditions and potential services, the foul sewer main extension for Point Road is not straightforward and would require extensive site investigation and design works in order to produce a project design. In addition, it is likely the project costs would be significant.’ Because there was no funding source for the assessment costing €25,000, Carrigaline MD may wish to discuss this, the report added.
IW has stated that when all the Cork Lower Harbour Main Drainage works are complete in 2021, the project will, in compliance with the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive, treat all wastewater from the agglomerations of Ringaskiddy-Crosshaven-Carrigaline; Ringaskiddy village; Passage-Monkstown and Cobh town.
This means 20,000 homes and businesses will be connected to the new scheme and raw sewage from these areas will no longer be discharged into the Harbour, positively impacting the local economy and greatly improving the amenity value of the Cork Lower Harbour for the surrounding communities.
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