21 October 2022
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
File photo
Irish Water and Cork County Council is replacing 862m of problematic watermains in Ryefield, Whitechurch, Co. Cork which will improve water quality for the community.
The project which commenced in recent days forms part of Irish Water’s National Leakage Reduction Programme. 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 customers’ water supply.
The works, being carried out by Ward and Burke on behalf of Irish Water, will take place on the Ryefield West Road and is expected to be completed by the end of December.
Outlining the benefits the mains replacement will bring, Steven Blennerhassett from Irish Water, said: “Replacing these old and problematic pipes in Ryefield will reduce the drinking water lost by leakage and will bring an all-round improvement to water quality for the local community.
Steven added: “To facilitate the safe delivery of the upgrades, there may be some traffic management in place, however, local and emergency access will be maintained at all times.
“Works will be limited to short sections to minimise any impact on customers. During this project there may be some short-term water outages and the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours notice before any planned water outages.
“We understand that road works and water outages can be inconvenient, but our crews will make every effort to minimise disruption to local communities as we continue to improve the water supply in Wexford and progress the National Leakage Reduction Programme.”
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
This project is one example of how Irish Water is working in partnership with Local Authorities to reduce leakage and provide a more reliable water supply. Fixing leaks can be complicated but we are making progress. In 2018 the rate of leakage nationally was 46%, by the end of 2021 it was 38%. We are on track to achieve a national leakage rate of 25% by the end of 2030.