Upgrades to improve water supply and reduce leakage in Knockdrin
14 May 2021
Planned outage scheduled for Wednesday 19 May from 3pm until 12am midnight impacting customers in Knockdrin, Monilea, Crookedwood, Crazy Corner, Loughagar, Baronstown, Galmoylestown, Mornington, Killynnan, Clondrisse and surrounding areas.
Uisce Éireann, working in partnership with Westmeath County Council, continues with essential upgrade works in Knockdrin and surrounding areas to improve the security of supply and reduce high levels of leakage. The works involve the replacement of approximately 1.3km of old and problematic water mains that are prone to leaks and bursts, causing supply disruptions for customers. The mains will be replaced with new, high density polyethylene (plastic) pipes, using efficient, modern engineering technology. 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. Where the existing service connections on the public side are lead, these will be replaced as part of this improvement work. When completed, these improvement works will reduce the amount of clean drinking water lost to leakage, providing a safe, secure and more reliable water supply for home and businesses in the area.
In order to reduce the impact of these works on customers, a specific method of construction is being used which will reduce build time and accelerate the works. To facilitate the safe delivery of the works, some traffic management is in place, however, local and emergency access will be maintained at all times. A number of necessary, short-term water outages are required and are scheduled to take place over the coming weeks. On Wednesday 19 May from 3pm until 12am midnight, customers in Knockdrin, Monilea, Crookedwood, Crazy Corner, Loughagar, Baronstown, Galmoylestown, Mornington, Killynnan, Clondrisse and surrounding areas may experience disruption to their water supply. It may take 2-3 hours following restoration time for the network to refill and normal water supply to fully return, however, please continue to follow the HSE guidance on handwashing. Uisce Éireann and Westmeath County Council regret any inconvenience these improvement works may cause and will continue to actively communicate details prior to any planned shut-off’s.
For helpful tips and advice on how to prepare for planned works and avoid issues with your water supply, visit the Prepare for planned works in your area section of our website. These essential works are being carried out on behalf of Uisce Éireann, in adherence with the HSE and government guidance on Covid-19, by GMC Utilities and are expected to be completed in June 2021.
Speaking about the project Matthew Thomson, Leakage Reduction Programme Regional Lead with Uisce Éireann, said “Replacing these old, damaged pipes will reduce the instances of bursts and water outages for the community of Knockdrin and provide a more secure and reliable water supply for home and businesses. We do understand that this type of work can be inconvenient and will ensure our work crews make every effort to minimise any disruption these necessary works may cause. We would like to thank the local community, businesses, homeowners and commuters for their patience and cooperation while we deliver this vital water network improvement project to safeguard the water supply in Knockdrin”.
This project is one example of how Uisce Éireann is working in partnership with Westmeath County Council to reduce leaks every day. Fixing leaks can be complicated with over 63,000km of water pipe in Ireland. Our national Leakage Reduction Programme will see €500 million 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.
Our 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 Supply and Service Updates section of our website.
Uisce Éireann continues to work during the current pandemic 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.
Previous Updates
Uisce Éireann, working in partnership with Westmeath County Council, is progressing with works in Knockdrin to improve the security of supply and reduce high levels of leakage in the area. The works involve the replacement of approximately 1.3km of old and problematic water mains that were prone to leaks and bursts, causing supply disruptions for customers. The mains will be replaced with new, high density polyethylene (plastic) pipes, using efficient, modern engineering technology. 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. Where the existing service connections on the public side are lead, these will be replaced as part of this improvement work. When completed, these improvement works will reduce the amount of clean drinking water lost to leakage, providing a safe, secure and more reliable water supply for home and businesses in the area.
In order to reduce the impact of these works on customers, a specific method of construction is being used which will reduce build time and accelerate the works. To facilitate the safe delivery of the works, some traffic management will be in place for the duration of the project. Local and emergency access will be maintained at all times. A number of necessary, short-term water outages are also required. The outages are scheduled to take place weekly for the next 6 weeks and customers in Knockdrin, Monilea, Crookedwood, Crazy Corner, Loughagar, Baronstown, Galmoylestown, Mornington, Killynnan, Clondrisse and surrounding areas may experience disruption to their water supply. We acknowledge that this may cause inconvenience and we will actively communicate details prior to any planned water shut-off’s. The first outage is scheduled for Wednesday 12 May and Thursday 13 May from 3pm to 12am daily. It may take 2-3 hours following restoration time for the network to refill and normal water supply to fully return, however, please continue to follow the HSE guidance on handwashing.
Uisce Éireann and Westmeath County Council regret any inconvenience these improvement works may cause. For helpful tips and advice on how to prepare for planned works and avoid issues with your water supply, visit the Prepare for planned works in your area section of our website. These essential works are being carried out on behalf of Uisce Éireann, in adherence with the HSE and government guidance on Covid-19, by GMC Utilities and are expected to be completed in June 2021.
Speaking about the project Matthew Thomson, Leakage Reduction Programme Regional Lead with Uisce Éireann, said “Replacing these old, damaged pipes will reduce the instances of bursts and water outages for the community of Knockdrin and provide a more secure and reliable water supply for home and businesses. We do understand that this type of work can be inconvenient and will ensure our work crews make every effort to minimise any disruption these necessary works may cause. We would like to thank the local community, businesses, homeowners and commuters for their patience and cooperation while we deliver this vital water network improvement project to safeguard the water supply in Knockdrin”.
This project is one example of how Uisce Éireann is working in partnership with Westmeath County Council to reduce leaks every day. Fixing leaks can be complicated with over 63,000km of water pipe in Ireland. Our national Leakage Reduction Programme will see €500 million 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.
Our 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 Supply and Service Updates section of our website.
Uisce Éireann continues to work during the current pandemic 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.