There were several days of water disruptions in Portlaoise this week, as water mains were damaged in three different locations along the busy Dublin road.

Last August, emergency repairs were carried out by Uisce Éireann on the road following a sizeable burst to the water mains. The road was closed, causing significant delays to traffic in and out of Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise.

Uisce Éireann revealed to the Leinster Express / Laois Live that two of the recent bursts to the water main were caused by 'accidental damages' from contractors.

Pictured: the busy Dublin road, Portlaoise. Photo: Maps

On Monday, October 13, water mains burst at the entrance to Kilminchy Avenue, along the Dublin road. Repairs were undertaken, and finished by 5pm on Monday.

On Wednesday, October 15, a separate mains burst was reported close to the National Learning Network building, causing disruptions in the Kilminchy area. 

On Thursday October 16, burst water mains were reported close to the Applegreen on the Dublin road. Repairs were carried out, with water expected to be returned on Friday.

Uisce Éireann apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused by recent water supply disruptions in the area.

"The outages were the result of several separate and unrelated incidents over recent weeks," a representative explained.

Pictured: The Dublin road, Portlaoise. Photo: maps

"On Friday, August 22, a burst occurred on a large trunk main near the hospital. Due to the location and scale of the burst, repairs were complex and took longer than usual, but supply was restored later that day.

"On Monday October 13, a third-party contractor working in the Kilminchy area accidentally damaged a main, leading to an unplanned outage that was repaired by 5pm."

While the outage on Wednesday October 15 was reported as an unexpected burst water main requiring repair works, Uisce Éireann have said that the outage was 'required by the contractor' to remove a section of main identified during Monday's works.

"Also on Wednesday, a separate planned outage by Shareridge took place on Block Road to facilitate a new school connection," they said.

"Then, on Thursday, 16 October, a different contractor carrying out works near a service station development on the Dublin Road struck a main. Follow-on works were completed on Friday morning, with supply returning by approximately 10am," the representative finished.

Uisce Éireann explained that they are 'committed to keeping customers informed' across multiple platforms 24/7, and encourage customers to engage with them through their website and social media channels.

At the time of the disruptions along the Dublin road in August, Mr James Joyce, Water Network Operations Lead at Uisce Éireann, apologised for the 'disruptive outage'.

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