Works progress to improve Kilcock water supply

25 March 2021

Uisce Éireann continues to work in partnership with Kildare County Council to carry out essential upgrade works in Kilcock to secure the water supply for homes and businesses. As part of these essential upgrade works, customers in Kilcock village and surrounding areas will experience a necessary disruption to their supply on Tuesday 30 March from 9am to 6pm. Following completion of the works, it may take 2-3 hours for normal water supply to return to all customers but it is important to continue to follow the HSE guidance on hand-washing.

Impacted customers have been directly notified and customers who are registered on our vulnerable customer database have been contacted. An alternative water supply will be in place to support impacted customers. Water Tankers with clean drinking water will be available at St Joseph’s National School and in the Supervalu Carpark for the duration of the outage. Customers are reminded to use their own containers when taking water from the tankers and to boil the water before consumption as a precautionary measure.

These improvement works continue to be delivered in adherence with the HSE and government guidance on COVID-19.

The programme of works is progressing well and involves replacing almost 800 meters of old and broken cast iron water mains along the R407 (Kilcock to Maynooth road), with new, high-density polyethylene (plastic) pipes. This will improve the water quality and supply for homes and businesses in Kilcock and surrounding areas by reducing the number of bursts and outages impacting the water supply. The works also involve laying new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers’ property boundaries and connecting it to the customers’ water supply. Where existing service connections on the public side are lead, these are being replaced as part of the works. The works are being carried out on behalf of Uisce Éireann by Ward and Burke Ltd. and are expected to be completed by the end of April.

Outlining the benefits of these works, Joe Carroll regional Lead with Uisce Éireann, explained “These improvement works are part of a significant investment by Uisce Éireann to upgrade the water network in Kildare and we would like to thank customers for their continued cooperation and patience while we complete this project. The works will benefit residential and business customers in the area by strengthening and reinforcing the water network, and minimising disruptions in their water supply by reducing leakage and unplanned outages when bursts occur on the existing main. Upon completion, there will be significant improvements in network performance and levels of customer service in terms of efficiency and security of supply. We regret any inconvenience these necessary works may cause”

Customers can phone Uisce Éireann on 1800 278 278 if they have any questions about these works or visit the Supply and Service Updates section of our website for updates.

This project is one example of how Uisce Éireann is working in partnership with Kildare 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.

Uisce Éireann continues to work, during the COVID-19 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.