Enough water saved in 2021 to supply five Kildare towns and villages
25 November 2021
Known as the Thoroughbred County, Kildare is famous around the world for its horse-racing and picturesque landscapes. A county with many bustling commuter towns and a population of over 222,000, it also boasts some impressive shopping opportunities as well as a thriving hospitality industry. Safeguarding the water supply across Kildare continues to be an important focus for Uisce Éireann. This year alone Uisce Éireann, working in partnership with Kildare County Council, has completed a substantial amount of work in 2021 to drive down leakage, resulting in savings of almost 1.5 million litres of water daily across Kildare. That’s enough clean drinking water to supply over 11,000 people or the population equivalent of Rathangan, Prosperous, Derinturn, Castledermot and Johnstown for a day.
The works involved the replacement of 1.5km of old and problematic water mains in Kilcock/Boycetown and Suncroft as well as providing new service connections, finding and fixing leaks, and controlling and managing pressure more effectively to improve security of the water supply. This has significantly reduced the number of bursts and water outages, resulting in a more reliable water supply for homes and business.
Since the beginning of 2021 and as a result of Uisce Éireann’s Find and Fix programme alone, over 1 million litres of water is now being saved every day. That is the same amount of water as the average daily use of approximately 8,000 people, delivering extensive cost savings and providing improved water network operation that will require less maintenance in the future. Working in collaboration with Kildare County Council and our regional contractor, Ward and Burke, Uisce Éireann continues to mobilise crews across the county to find leaks and carry out repairs on the supply network.
Speaking about the works Joe Carroll, Leakage Reduction Programme Regional Lead with Uisce Éireann, said: “The size and scale of the leakage challenge nationally is well documented. Reducing leakage is not only about replacing old pipes or fixing bursts, it involves detailed planning, collaboration and a number of different work streams which will make the most impact on leakage levels in a given area. These included water mains rehabilitation, leak detection and repair, and pressure management works which will have a significant long-term impact on the levels of leakage being recorded in the drinking water network and will safeguard the water supply in Kildare now and into the future.”
A further saving of over 400,000 litres of water per day was achieved through Uisce Éireann’s First Fix Free scheme in households across the county, with free leak investigations and repairs carried out on customers’ external supply pipes where a constant flow of water was identified by utilising domestic water meters. That’s enough water saved to accommodate over 3,000 people daily. The First Fix Free scheme aims to help reduce the amount of water wasted through leaks on customers' properties. If Uisce Éireann has contacted you about a suspected leak on your external water supply pipe, please get in touch as you may qualify for the First Fix Free scheme. For more information, visit the First Fix Free section of our website..
Ibrahim Fathalla, Senior Engineer with Kildare County Council, added: “As a result of the collaborative work between Uisce Éireann and Kildare County Council, local communities across Kildare 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 Kildare.”
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 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.