Public consultation opens on long-term Galway wastewater plan as capacity pressures mount
Uisce Éireann has launched an eight-week public consultation on the Draft Galway Wastewater Strategy, which outlines the infrastructure plans for the next 54 years in Galway city, Athenry, and Moycullen.
Galway’s population, Uisce Éireann explained, is projected to increase by approximately 40pc between 2022 and 2040. This level of growth places increasing pressure on existing wastewater infrastructure to meet the demand for new serviced land to support housing and commercial developments.
By 2040, two of the four existing plants in the strategy area are due to face capacity. There will have to be a 139pc increase in wastewater capacity to accommodate projected economic development for Galway, according to Uisce Éireann.
The Draft Galway Wastewater Strategy envisages the development of a Regional Galway East Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), which will ease pressure off existing plants across three goal timelines, short-term, medium-term, and long-term, through 2080.
The catchment area for the strategy includes the Galway metropolitan area, Athenry, and Moycullen.
The plans read both Mutton Island and Athenry will remain in service to meet short-term demands. However, upon completion of the Galway East plant, the Athenry plant will be decommissioned.
Athenry will be serviced by a new pumping station through to the new WWTS.
Two options are set for discharge fallout for the new plant. One is set for approximately 3.5 kilometers from the shore in the eastern part of Galway Bay. The other is set for approximately 1 kilometre from the shore of the western part of Galway Bay.
Additionally, the plan states that treatment plants in Claregalway and Moycullen will be decentralised yet maintained in order to meet any future population demands.
“These options represent the most viable and robust strategic solutions identified through the strategy’s optioneering and assessment process,” the Uisce Eireann strategy report said.
The treatment system landscape was first screened for a draft strategy in 2023. Consultations first took place at the end of 2024 and the feedback received helped shaping the current draft strategy.
Public submissions are now open through Thursday July 23, 2026 and can be made online.