Irish Water upgrades to drive down leakage across Dublin underway

Irish Water says it is replacing over 6km of old and damaged, cast iron water mains, northwest of the River Dodder in Ballsbridge, from Clyde Lane towards Sussex Terrace including works on the R138.

Cast iron mains can, over time, become encrusted which can significantly impact water quality and pressure.

Replacing these old, damaged pipes with new, modern pipework will greatly improve water quality and reduce the instances of bursts, outages and low-pressure affecting customers.

The project, which began this week, represents a significant investment by Irish Water.

Highlighting the importance of these upgrades, Matt Thomson (pictured above), Leakage Reduction Programme Regional Lead with Irish Water, said:

“We are delighted to announce this major investment in Dublin. Replacing these old and damaged, cast-iron pipes is a first step in tackling water quality, pressure and leakage issues which have been affecting homes and businesses.

“The works will not only reduce the amount of drinking water lost to leakage, it will also significantly improve water quality for the local community as well as delivering a much more reliable supply for generations to come.

“To minimise the impact on the local community, we are delivering these works on a phased basis with areas of work limited to short sections.

“On behalf of Irish Water, I’d like thank the local community in advance for their patience and cooperation as traffic management will be necessary as the project progresses, however, based on previous experiences, we know that the short-term inconvenience will be overshadowed by the long-term benefits.”

The works 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.

The works may involve some short-term supply interruptions which we understand may cause inconvenience, however, the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours’ notice prior to any planned water interruptions.

The project is being delivered on behalf of Irish Water by GMC Utilities Group and is expected to be completed in early 2023.