Upgrades at the Windmill Hill Reservoir in County Meath have strengthened water supply security for the commuter towns of Ratoath, Ashbourne and the Dublin environs. The €19 million project, led by Nicholas O’Dwyer – an RSK Group company – on behalf of Uisce Éireann, has resolved long-standing water outages and improved resilience for thousands of households and businesses.
The project included replacing 7 km of ageing asbestos pipeline with modern, durable infrastructure and constructing a new 4.7-million-litre treated water storage reservoir with secondary chlorination facilities. This combination provides improved pressure, capacity and reliability to meet current demand and accommodate future growth.
Damien Kennedy, Principal Consultant at Nicholas O’Dwyer, said: “Uisce Éireann needed to find a solution that would reliably ensure the water main can serve nearby communities and improve pressure and capacity to meet current and future demand. This was achieved by replacing the ageing pipeline and constructing new treated water storage.”
To avoid interruptions during construction, the existing fragile pipeline was kept operational while the new watermain was laid in parallel. Engineers used under-pressure drilling techniques, including hot tapping, which allowed connection to the live system without service disruption.
The project also integrated sustainability measures, including the installation of a solar photovoltaic (PV) array capable of generating 72,000 kWh annually – enough to power 17 households and offset 10 tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Surplus energy can be exported back to the grid.
William McKnight, Portfolio Manager at Uisce Éireann, said: “This significant investment by Uisce Éireann will support social and economic development while improving water supply security and resilience for homes and businesses in Ratoath, Kilbride and Ashbourne.”
