Plans progress for major upgrade from Duleek to Navan

06 December 2021

Uisce Éireann, working in partnership with Meath County Council, is progressing plans to develop a new trunk watermain between Duleek and Navan improving security of supply for homes and businesses in the area. When complete this new infrastructure will enable Uisce Éireann to maintain drinking water supply to Navan in the event of any planned or unplanned disruption at Liscarton Water Treatment Plant by diverting available treated water from Duleek and pumping it to reservoirs at Carn Hill and Proudstown. The provision of this new trunk watermain is in line with Uisce Éireann's strategic plans to improve resilience in the network and reduce the number of areas where large populations are vulnerable to supply interruptions.

The plan proposes to develop 16km of new trunk watermain between Duleek and Navan. This new main will be laid along the L1610 Boolies Little (South of Duleek) to the junction with the N2 at Balrath; the R153 Balrath to Kentstown; and the R153 Kentstown to Casey’s Cross, Navan. Within Navan, it is planned to run the new main across agricultural lands from Carn Hill Reservoir, across the Boyne Road at St Mary’s Cemetery then under the River Boyne, connecting to infrastructure at Proudstown Reservoir. The plan also proposes constructing a booster water pumping station off the R153 in the townland of Brownstown, west of Kentstown village.

Speaking about this planned project, Uisce Éireann Regional Delivery Lead William McKnight said, “This strategic trunk watermain project is extremely important for Navan in terms of delivering a safer, more reliable drinking water supply to homes and businesses. This project will support social and economic development by reducing the number of outages while improving compliance and environmental performance.”

Consultations have been on-going with all landowners but Uisce Éireann was unable to acquire consent for all of the required wayleaves and lands on a voluntary basis. Given the importance of the project to improving Navan’s security of supply, Uisce Éireann will endeavour to acquire the wayleaves and lands by way of Compulsory Purchase Order pursuant to the provisions of the Water Services Act, 2007 (as amended) in December 2021.

Commencement and timeline of works is subject to the Compulsory Purchase Order and relevant statutory approvals. Uisce Éireann will endeavour to keep all stakeholders, businesses and residents informed in advance of the commencement of this project and as this essential water supply scheme progresses.

For more information on the project, please view our Duleek to Navan Trunk Watermain project page.

Uisce Éireann is responsible for the delivery of all public water and wastewater services in Ireland. We are committed to continuously upgrading and developing critical infrastructure to support growth in our economy, while protecting the environment and safeguarding water supplies.

Uisce Éireann is committed to keeping customers informed about their water and wastewater supplies across multiple platforms 24/7 and we encourage customers to engage with us on our Twitter channels @IWCare and @IrishWater, on Facebook and LinkedIn, through our customer care helpline which is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and by setting their location on our website.