Irish Water has announced proposals for a new water supply for the midlands and east.
The preferred option would involve water being collected from Parteen Basin in Tipperary and treated at Birdhill, before being piped to Peamount in Dublin.
This preferred route emerged after nine different potential pipeline options, as well a water desalination plant in Fingal, were examined.
The water will be piped the short distance from the Parteen Basin in Tipperary to a new water treatment plant to be built at Birdhill.
From there it will be pumped to a new break pressure tank to be located near Cloughjordan…it will then be transported by gravity from Cloughjordan along a route close to the Laois-Offaly border and on to Peamount in Dublin.
Irish Water will hold public consultations on the proposed route over the next 14 weeks.
The pipeline, which is expected to cost between €700 million and €900 million to build, is scheduled to be completed by 2024.
Irish Water expects that about 1,000 jobs will be created during the three to four year construction phase.
However, there is likely to be intense local opposition to the plans, with farming groups and local residents already voicing their concerns about the impact the pipeline would have.
