Tionscadail Idir Lámha
A significant number of people in Ireland rely on private water services - any water supplies or wastewater disposal systems not provided by Irish Water - for their domestic water supply and wastewater disposal needs of their household.
Through Exchequer funding, the Rural Water Programme delivers improvements to private domestic water services in areas of rural Ireland where there are no public (Irish Water) water services.
Grant assistance is made available under the Programme for capital works for:
• Group Water Schemes (GWS),
• Group Sewerage Schemes (GSS),
• Community Connections (Water and Wastewater),
• Individual Domestic Water Supplies (more commonly called private wells), and
• Domestic Wastewater Treatment Systems (more commonly called septic tanks).
The strategic objective of the Rural Water Programme over the years has been and continues to be to address drinking water quality in private supplies - group water schemes and individual private wells.
The 2019-2021 funding cycle of the Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme (MARWP) consists of eight measures:
• Measure 1 - Source Protection (Group Water Scheme Sector): This measure is aimed at protecting the raw water source of existing group water schemes thus contributing to the safety of water users through the ability of the scheme to sustainably achieve compliance with the water quality parameters of the Drinking Water Regulations on a consistent long-term basis,
• Measure 2 - Public health compliance (Group Water Scheme Sector): This measure is aimed at improving water quality in existing group water schemes, through upgrading of their treatment facilities, so that the schemes can sustainably achieve compliance with the parameters of the Drinking Water Regulations on a consistent long-term basis,
• Measure 3 - Enhancement of existing schemes including water conservation (Group Water Scheme Sector): This measure supports projects to make existing group water schemes more efficient in their operation (e.g. water conservation and network upgrades, including storage) and contributing to good water quality on a consistent sustainable long-term basis.
• Measure 4 – New Group Water Schemes: This measure supports social and economic development in rural towns and villages and their hinterlands by providing new group water schemes where public water supply schemes or individual/private wells are not the most viable option,
• Measure 5 – Transition of Existing Group Water Schemes and Group Sewerage Schemes to the Public (Irish Water) Water Sector: This measure enables existing group water schemes and existing group sewerage schemes, where they wish to do so and with the agreement of Irish Water, to transition to the public water sector (Irish Water),
• Measure 6 - Community Connections (Water and Wastewater): This measure facilitates the continued expansion of the coverage of piped water supplies and central wastewater collection systems by extension off the public (Irish Water) network,
• Measure 7 - Innovation and Research: This measure is aimed at issues in the rural water sector which, given the major transition of water services in Ireland, require new and innovative approaches and solutions,
• Measure 8 - Individual wells (more commonly known as private or household wells) and on-site wastewater treatment systems (more commonly known as septic tanks): This measure is aimed at allowing householders that are dependent on these services to obtain funding support for their improvement.
€15,868,455 was allocated by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government to Mayo under the Multi-Annual Rural Water Programme (MARWP) 2019 - 2021. A list of current projects in Mayo can be viewed and is available for download here Rural Water - Current Projects under MARWP.
Any further queries in relation to current projects can be made by emailing ruralwater@mayococo.ie or by contacting the rural water office on 094-9064000.