Thousands of litres saved daily after leak repair works in Offaly

Uisce Éireann, working in partnership with Offaly County Council, has saved nearly half a million litres of water per day in the neighbouring towns of Rhode and Croghan as a result of leakage reduction and repair works. That is enough water to supply over 3,500 people per day. The works involved replacing old and damaged water mains as well as providing new service connections; find and fixing leaks; and controlling and managing pressure more effectively to improve security of water supply. This has significantly reduced the number of bursts, water outages and incidents of low water pressure, resulting in a more reliable water supply for homes and businesses in Rhode and Croghan. Uisce Éireann working with Offaly County Council are committed to working with local communities across Offaly to ensure the reduction of leakage levels in the County going forward.

Since the commencement of these extensive works in 2018, nearly 4.5km of new water mains were installed in several areas across Rhode including Fahy, Clonin Reservoir, Toberdaly, Edenderry Road and from Fahy to Ballybritton and 20 old lead service connections have been replaced in St Patrick's Avenue increasing the security of supply. In Croghan, installation of pressure reducing valves (PRV) has significantly improved water pressure for homes and businesses.

Through our Find and Fix Scheme, 75 public side leaks have been repaired. In Croghan, 19 leak repairs are saving a significant amount of water per day and in Rhode 56 leak repairs have been completed in areas such as Garcarrig, Clonin and Fahy. These extensive leakage reduction works have reduced demand for treated water in the area by 23%. Uisce Éireann continues to mobilise crews across the county to find leaks and carry out repairs on the supply network in collaboration with Offaly County Council and our Regional Contractor, Ward and Buke.

Commenting on the works, Joe Carroll, Regional Lead with Uisce Éireann's Leakage Reduction Programme, said "Since being involved in the Leakage Reduction Programme across County Offaly, I have seen first-hand how efforts to tackle leakage through the different types of work streams have directly benefited local residents and businesses. In 2018 the rate of leakage nationally was 46%, by the end of 2019 it was 42% and we are currently on course to achieve a national leakage rate of 38% by the end of 2021. We would like to thank the communities, businesses, homeowners and commuters for their patience and cooperation as we continue to deliver vital network improvement works across the county helping safeguard the water supply."

Seamus Walshe, Executive Engineer, Offaly County Council, said "As a result of the collaborative work between Uisce Éireann and Offaly County Council, local communities across Offaly are enjoying a more secure and reliable water supply. Fixing leaks can be complicated with over 63,000km of water pipe in Ireland. Most leaks aren't visible, resulting in precious water being lost, but we are making progress and efforts to reduce leakage are continuing through the national Leakage Reduction Programme. We remain committed to successfully delivering this programme of works and improving the overall water supply in County Offaly.''

Uisce Éireann continues to work in partnership with local authorities across Ireland to reduce leaks every day. As part of Uisce Éireann's national Leakage Reduction Programme, €500 million is being invested up to the end of 2021 to reduce the level of leakage across the country by fixing and replacing old and damaged water mains. This will ensure a safe, reliable water supply which is vital for our health, our environment and our growing population and economy. For more information, please visit the National Leakage Reduction Programme section of our website.

Uisce Éireann continues to work with our Local Authority partners, contractors and others to safeguard the health and well-being of both staff and the public and to ensure the continuity of critical drinking water and wastewater services. Uisce Éireann would like to remind people to follow the HSE COVID-19 advice and ensure frequent handwashing.