Irish Water progressing with essential water main replacement works in Clara, Co Offaly to safeguard the water supply and reduce high levels of leakage.
17 February 2021 - Irish Water, working in partnership with Offaly County Council, is progressing with essential water main replacement works in Clara to safeguard the water supply and reduce high levels of leakage in the area.
The works involve the replacement of almost 300 metres of old, problematic water mains along Brendan Street in Clara with new, high density polyethylene (plastic) pipes. The works will also involve laying new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers’ property boundaries and connecting it to the customer’s water supply. Where the existing service connections on the public side are lead, these will be replaced as part of this improvement work. The works, which are scheduled to begin on Monday 22 February, will be carried out by Ward and Burke Ltd. on behalf of Irish Water and are expected to be completed in March 2021. These essential works will be delivered in adherence with the current HSE and government guidance on Covid-19.
To facilitate the safe delivery of these works, some traffic management will be in place, however, local and emergency access will be maintained. To minimise the impact on customers, areas of work will be limited to short sections. The works may involve some short-term supply disruptions, however, the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours’ notice prior to any planned water shut-off’s. Irish Water and Offaly County Council regret any inconvenience these improvement works may cause.
Speaking about the project, Joe Carroll, Irish Water, said “We understand that this type of work can be inconvenient and will ensure our work crews make every effort to minimise any disruption these works may cause. We would like to thank the local community for their patience and cooperation while we deliver this vital water network improvement project to safeguard the water supply in Clara”.
This project is one example of how Irish Water is working in partnership with Offaly County Council to reduce leaks every day. Fixing leaks can be complicated with over 63,000km of water pipe in Ireland. Our national Leakage Reduction Programme will see €500 million invested up to the end of 2021 to reduce the level of leakage across the country by fixing and replacing old and damaged water mains. This will ensure a safe, reliable water supply which is vital for our health, our environment and our growing population and economy. For more information, please visit www.water.ie/reducingleaks.
Our customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1850 278 278 and customers can also contact us on Twitter @IWCare with any queries. For updates please visit the Water Supply Updates section of the Irish Water website.
Irish Water continues to work with our Local Authority partners, contractors and others to safeguard the health and well-being of both staff and the public and to ensure the continuity of critical drinking water and wastewater services. Irish Water would like to remind people to follow the HSE COVID-19 advice and ensure frequent handwashing.
The following are links to some videos about the Leakage Reduction Programme:
National Leakage Reduction Programme - https://youtu.be/eQFbrkhLvdw
Find and Fix Programme - https://youtu.be/ft1ADz2G_4o
First Fix Free scheme testimonial - https://youtu.be/VlST5gM9l2w
DMA Establishment - https://youtu.be/fSdAk-1Tbwg
Pressure Management - https://youtu.be/JuQWykp5Uqw
Find & Fix - https://youtu.be/vev24DtvxDA
Some of Ireland’s water network, particularly in urban areas is over a century old. Every day 1.7 billion litres of water is distributed through the network but almost half of this clean water is lost through leaks. The target is to save approximately 166 million litres of water per day – that’s enough water to fill 66 Olympic-size swimming pools every day.
Irish Water’s Leakage Reduction Programme will fix or replace old, damaged pipes and remove any lead pipes from the public network. Households who currently share a supply connection will also be directly connected to the public water mains. This will ensure that customers have a more reliable service and experience fewer water outages due to bursts and leaks.
