Uisce Éireann plant promises 1.6m litres of clean drinking water per day for war-torn Ukraine
01 October 2023
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The self-contained unit is capable of treating up to 40,000 litres per hour which will supply 6,200 people, or the equivalent of 1.6million one-litre bottles of clean water, per day
A fully containerised water treatment plant (WTP) will be on its way from Ireland to war-torn Ukraine within days, helping to supply communities in need with vital supplies of clean drinking water.
In response to urgent calls for support, Uisce Éireann donated two containerised WTP systems in 2022 with a third now ready for shipping.
The self-contained unit is capable of treating up to 40,000 litres per hour which will supply 6,200 people, or the equivalent of 1.6million one-litre bottles of clean water, per day.
A fourth containerised WTP system, with an even greater treatment capacity of 120,000 litres per hour, will be donated in the coming months.
With an estimated 1.4 million people have no access to safe running water across Eastern Ukraine alone, according to a recent report from UNICEF, Uisce Éireann is proud to offer assistance.
According to Niall Gleeson, Uisce Éireann’s Chief Executive Officer, “Access to safe water is a fundamental human need, and we can often take for granted given our access to fresh and safe water here in Ireland. We know that the situation in Ukraine has resulted in water supply being disrupted entirely or severely polluted, meaning it is unsafe for drinking. We hope our donation of these units will play a role to help some of the people suffering in Ukraine access safe water.”
Built by Coffey on behalf of Uisce Éireann, this unit, like the two which were sent last year, contains the filters, backwash pump and UV reactors required to fully treat drinking water. It has all the necessary pipework and equipment to enable the self-contained water solutions to be operational very quickly when placed in situ.
To aid set-up on arrival, contact details are included within the units in English and Ukrainian to enable online support for any commissioning and operating queries which will be provided at no cost by Coffey in Galway.
The Minister of State at the Department of Health and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Anne Rabbitte, welcomed the initiative.
“I want to highly commend Uisce Éireann for providing another much-needed water treatment unit to Ukraine. This exemplifies the many ways Ireland, through its people and its state agencies, is showing its solidarity with the people of Ukraine in their time of need. This donation demonstrates collaborative approaches to providing practical and important solutions to support the Ukrainian people. These water units will benefit thousands who are struggling to source fresh, safe drinking water.”