Major works continuing on critical repair in Greater Dublin Area to secure drinking water supply

Critical and complex repairs commenced Monday to a major trunk watermain that connects Ballymore Eustace Water Treatment Plant and the Saggart Reservoir, to safeguard water supply to 1.7 million customers in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA).

Specialist teams turned off the water late last night on the trunk main with repair and excavation crews are now working day and night to repair the pipeline. To date the works are most impacting customers in some areas of Kildare. As the works continue they may affect customers in Dublin and Wicklow in the form of low pressure, discoloured water, or water outages today and tomorrow.

Stephen Burke, Regional Operations Manager for Uisce Éireann said the repair is highly complex due to the nature and size of the pipeline and the quantity of water it carries.

“This pipeline is large and very challenging to work with. It was built in the 1980s, it’s buried deep underground – between 2 and 4 metres, and it’s 1.6 metres in diameter meaning the average adult could stand in it.

“A large area around the leaking part of the pipe has been cleared so that we can access it to carry out the repair. The excavation alone is 14 metres wide and 5 metres deep. Works are progressing as planned at this point and we will keep the public up to date on any impacts to water services.”

Uisce Éireann is again asking the public in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow area to continue to make every effort to conserve water while the repair works are underway.

The Uisce Éireann customer care helpline is also open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and customers can also contact us on X @IWCare with any queries. For updates please visit the Water Supply Updates section of www.water.ie or our dedicated web page https://wtr.ie/8z9lup

There is also a detailed interactive GIS map showing the affected areas available here https://irishwater.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=93deb3f433e34018be56f65033cfc7e2