Big water leak job in the pipeline for in Laois village

Months of work will be needed to install 3 kms of new water mains in The Swan village in Laois as part of ongoing efforts to tackle water leaks, according to Irish Water.

 Securing the water supply in Laois remains a vital focus said Irish Water as it announced works starting in the Swan Village area on Monday, January 31 to drive down leakage and improve the water supply for customers.

Working in partnership with Laois County Council, Irish Water says it is replacing 2.9km of old problematic water mains along the R430 through Swan Village with new modern pipes. It says this will reduce the number of bursts and water outages impacting the community.

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 customer’s water supply. The utility said these essential works will provide a more reliable water supply, reduce high levels of leakage and reduce the frequency of bursts improving water quality to homes and local businesses.

To minimise the impact on customers, Irish Water says areas of work will be limited to short sections. To facilitate the safe delivery of these works some traffic management may be necessary, however, it added that local and emergency access will be maintained. 

Irish Water said the works may involve some short-term supply disruptions which we understand may cause inconvenience. It said the project team would ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours’ notice prior to any planned water interruptions. Irish Water and Laois County Council regret any inconvenience these improvement works may cause.

Speaking about the project Joe Carroll, Leakage Reduction Programme Regional Lead with Irish Water said: “These works are vital to ensure a more secure water supply to homes and businesses in Swan Village and are part of a significant investment by Irish Water to safeguard the water supply. We understand this type of work can be inconvenient and we will ensure our work crews make every effort to minimise any disruption these necessary works may cause. We would like to thank the community for their patience and cooperation while we continue to deliver these vital water network improvement works and safeguard the water supply now and into the future”.

The works will be carried out on behalf of Irish Water by Ward & Burke Construction and are expected to be completed in late May.

Irish Water said that in 2018 the rate of leakage nationally was 46%, by the end of 2021 it was reduced to 38%. For more information, please visit www.water.ie/reducingleaks.

The Irish Water 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.

Irish Water is responsible for the delivery of all public water and wastewater services in Ireland. We are committed to continuously upgrading and developing critical infrastructure to support the growth needed in housing and across our economy, while protecting the environment and safeguarding water supplies.