26 August 2021
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Irish Water, working in partnership with Cork County Council, is replacing over 4.1km of problematic water mains in Kilbrin, Castlecor and Ballyhest, County Cork, with new modern pipes.
The upgrades are due to take place on the problematic water mains between the crossroads in Kilbrin village, Castlecor and Ballyhest West. The works will commence in the week beginning August 30, 2021 and form part of Irish Water’s National Leakage Reduction Programme.
The project also involves laying new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers’ property boundaries and connecting it to the customers’ water supply. Where the existing service connections on the public side are lead, these will be replaced as part of this improvement work.
Outlining the benefits the mains replacement will bring, Steven Blennerhassett from Irish Water, explained: “These works will benefit the local communities in Kilbrin, Castlecor and Ballyhest by strengthening and reinforcing the water network, and minimising disruptions in their water supply by reducing leakage and unplanned outages when bursts occur on the existing main.
“Upon completion, there will be significant improvements in network performance and levels of customer service in this area in terms of efficiency and security of supply.”
This project is one example of how Irish Water is working in partnership with Local Authorities to provide a more reliable water supply and reduce leakage. Fixing leaks can be complicated but Irish Water are making progress. In 2018 the rate of leakage nationally was 46%, by the end of 2020 it was reduced to 40%. We are currently on course to achieve a national leakage rate of 38% by the end of 2021.
Steven added: “To facilitate the safe delivery of the works, there will be some traffic management in place, however local and emergency access will be maintained at all times.
“In order to safely and efficiently complete the upgrade, a road closure will be required on the Kilbrin to L1049 (Castlecor) road. This part of the project is expected to be completed and the road re-opened in early October.
“A diversion will be in place and traffic due west from Kilbrin will be diverted south to Sandville and Castlecor. Traffic due east toward Kilbrin will be diverted to Castlecor and Sandville. Diversions will be signposted on approach. We understand that this type of work can be inconvenient and works crews will make every effort to minimise disruption to local communities as we continue to improve the water supply in Cork and progress the National Leakage Reduction Programme.”
This project will be carried out on behalf of Irish Water by Ward and Burke Limited and are expected to be completed by the end of November 2021.
The National Leakage Reduction Programme helps provide a more reliable water supply to Irish communities by reducing high levels of leakage and improving water quality. Its delivery represents an investment of over €500 million between 2017 and the end of 2021 to reduce leakage and replace old pipes on the water network.
For more information on reducing leaks visit our National Leakage Reduction Programme page.
Irish Water’s customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 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 or set your location on our website www.water.ie
Irish Water continues to work at this time 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.
