Updated 12.14
Irish Water has identified the Parteen Basin on the River Shannon as its preferred option for a new supply of drinking water for Dublin and the Midlands.
The utility service is proposing the construction of a 165km pipeline from a reservoir on the Tipperary side, to the south of Lough Derg, after eight years of research.
Irish Water says this option will have the least environmental impact of the four it examined, and is close to Ardnacrusha hydro-electric power station.
The proposal would see more than 300 million litres of water being taken from the Parteen Basin near Limerick, every day.
There was local opposition in North Tipperary when the Parteen Basin suggestion was first put forward, but the option is considered to be preferable to another plan that was being considered for Lough Derg.
Irish Water wants to have the pipeline in action by 2022.
Gerry Grant told Newstalk Breakfast that he expects the proposed scheme to be finalised by the middle of 2016:
Irish Water graphic shows the four plans considered
Irish Water said its research had led to the conclusion that only the Parteen Basin would be a viable option for desalination of seawater.
The process of desalination is a notoriously expensive and the agency says abstraction at the Parteen Basin has the least environmental impact of all the options considered.
Irish Water says the plan will avail of existing "hydro-power" infrastructure using only a small fraction (approximately 2%) of "hydro-power" water that would otherwise have been used for power generation before being discharged to sea.
In a statement, John Tierney, Managing Director of Irish Water said the move is necessary for economic growth: "The existing water supply sources for the Eastern and Midlands Regions do not have the capacity or resilience to meet demand for an additional 330 million litres of water per day which increased population and economic growth will generate by 2050.
"This project is not simply about finding a solution for Dublin’s future water supply, it is also about ensuring that the entire country can thrive by facilitating growth in the Eastern and Midlands where 40% of our population lives," he added.
