Offaly village to have 'more reliable water supply'

By Ceara Dwyer

Work is to start this week on the replacement of five kilometres of old water pipes in Clonbullogue.

The project is being carried out by Uisce Éireann, in partnership with Offaly County Council.

Uisce Éireann says the work will provide a more reliable water supply and will substantially reduce the amount of treated drinking water that is currently being lost to leakage.

It says the works are a "critical step" in conserving our precious resource and reducing the high levels of leakage which have been a significant source of outages and disruption for customers.

Programme Manager for Uisce Éireann’s National Leakage Reduction Programme Joe Carroll is looking forward to getting crews on site in Clonbullogue.

“Old and damaged water mains are a huge source of leakage and continue to impact communities right across Ireland, causing low pressure and supply disruption. Replacing these old water mains in poor condition will eliminate existing leaks and significantly reduce the amount of clean drinking water lost into the ground.”

Joe added: “I would like to thank the local community in advance for their patience and cooperation during the works, we know based on previous experiences that the short-term inconvenience will be overshadowed by the long-term benefits.”

Traffic management will be in place where water mains are being installed however local and emergency access will be maintained at all times.

These works are being carried out by Ward & Burke Construction in partnership with Offaly County Council on behalf of Uisce Éireann and are expected to be completed by the end of June 2023.

The National Leakage Reduction Programme helps to provide a more reliable water supply to Irish communities by reducing high levels of leakage and improving water quality.

To find out more about Uisce Éireann’s national programme of works to reduce leakage and improve Ireland’s water supply visit the Leakage Reduction Programme Page www.water.ie/projects-plans/national-projects/leakage-reduction-programme/