Celebrating 10 years of Engineering Continual Professional Development (CPD) in Dublin
DrainageDid you know?The Dublin City Council Drainage Division manage:
50,000 road drainage gullies
2,500 metres of pipework
160 direct labour staff employed
6,000 Planning applications per year
110,000 manholes
40 Pumping stations
Replace 2km of pipework each year
Our largest pumping station, the Main Lift Pumpingstation off Pigeon House Road in Ringsend, has thecapacity to pump 18.8 metres cubed of drainage (thevolume of an average bathroom) per second.
Ringsend ExtensionThe Ringsend Wastewater Treatmentplant is being extended to remove treat-ed water discharge from the environ-mentally sensitive Liffey estuary to apoint further offshore. The new dis-charge location will take advantage ofimproved dilution and dispersion togreater water depths and stronger tidalcurrents. This will further improve thevalue of bay and estuary as cherishedpublic amenities.
Dublin City Council’s Treatment Plant serving 7 counties
Trevor O’Neill, Joseph McGill and Dave Green Investigatingdrainage issues
The City Council Drainage Division introduced arevised Gully cleaning programme in 1999. A newsupervisory Inspector position was created in2004 to oversee the cleaning of the city’s gullies.Depending on the location, all gullies are cleanedat least once per annum and up to 8 times perannum in flood sensitive areas.
A web based computer application was created byDrainage Division staff which records the date andlocation of every single gully cleaning operation.The application also records whether any repairsare required and is then updated when the neces-sary repairs have been carried out.
The gully cleaning unit numbers twelve staff whowork either individually or in pairs. They operate ashift system, commencing work at either 4 AM or 6AM which facilitates cleaning work on the heavilytrafficked carriageways within the City Centre.Various plant items are utilised including purposebuilt Gully cleaning machines, CCTV cameras, flatbedded trucks and high powered jetting machineswhich can operate up to 4,000 PSI.
Dublin Watercourses
Blockage due to Fats, Oils and Greases - Georges Street
Rathmines & Pembroke Trunk Sewer being divert-ed along Dodder river (as part of Aviva StadiumWorks)
CCTV Van and High Pressure Jet Vactor
One of DCC’s high pressure jetting and vacuumingmachines
Road Gully Cleaning
Dublin City Council is the first local authority inIreland to implement a Fats, Oils and Grease(FOG) programme. The aim is to prevent the dis-charge of waste FOG into the drainage networkfrom commercial kitchens. This material congealson cooling and causes blockages in pipes. Theseblockages cause flooding of premises, overloadingof wastewater treatment plants and pollution ofrivers and streams.
The objective of the programme is to issue a tradeeffluent discharge licence, under the WaterPollution Act, to each premises discharging FOG.Compliance with the licence is then monitored viaregular inspections. Nearly 2000 premises arenow licensed. FOG programmes are now beingpromoted by the Environmental Protection Agencyas part of national strategy to achieve good statusin waters, under the Water Framework Directive.
Fats, Oils and GreaseProgramme
Installing Pipework
Cleaning syphon in times past
CCTV Camera with elevator
Vernon Avenue Pumping Station
Services in a road
Gerry Fitzpatrick and Paul Dunne Gully Cleaning
