Vartry Reservoir ( ga, Taiscumar Fheartraí) is a reservoir at

Roundwood Roundwood, historically known as Tóchar ( ga, an Tóchar , meaning 'the causeway'), is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It was listed as having a population of 948 in the 2016 census. Geography Roundwood is located where the R755 roa ...

in County Wicklow,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The water is piped from Vartry to a large open service reservoir in Stillorgan in the southern suburbs of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. The reservoir is operated by

Irish Water ''Uisce Éireann'', formerly and commonly known as Irish Water, is a state-owned water utility company in Ireland. It was created by the Irish Government through the Water Services Act 2013, which formally created the company as a subsidiary of ...

. Image of Dublin City Council sign at the reservoir The original (lower) reservoir was completed in 1863 and has a capacity of 11.3 billion litres and a maximum depth of 18.3 metres. A second embankment, 3.5 km upstream, was completed in 1923 to form the upper reservoir. This has a capacity of 5.6 billion litres and a maximum depth of 13.4 metres.

History

The Vartry Reservoir scheme involved the partial redirection and damming of the Vartry River, the building of a series of water piping and filtering systems (and related public works) to carry freshwater to the city.ENFO - Ireland's public service department with responsibility for environmental publications - Article on Dublin's Water Supply
/ref> Between 1862 and 1868 the lower reservoir was formed by constructing an

earthen dam An embankment dam is a large artificial dam. It is typically created by the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound of various compositions of soil or rock. It has a semi-pervious waterproof natural covering for its surface an ...

across the valley of the

River Vartry The River Vartry (; ) is a river in County Wicklow, Ireland, and an important water source for the city of Dublin.

after a Dublin Water Works Committee was established to develop a new water supply to Dublin and suburbs. The committee was chaired by Dr. John Gray who actively promoted what would become the "Vartry scheme". The scheme was formally opened on June 30, 1863. This work was particularly important in the improvement of living conditions and public health in Dublin city. It improved sanitation and helped reduce outbreaks of cholera, typhus and other diseases associated with contaminated water. The lower reservoir and its capacity is mentioned in chapter 17 of James Joyce's ''Ulysses''.

References

{{reflist Reservoirs in the Republic of Ireland