National Leakage Reduction Programme
Much of Ireland’s drinking water is lost to leaks before it reaches our taps. To conserve this precious resource we’re investing €500 million up to 2021 in fixing leaks to provide a more reliable water supply.
The challenge of leaks
Every day we lose about 42% of our treated water through leaks before it even reaches your taps. Leaks can be difficult to find because they happen in the vast and complex network of pipes below ground. Many of these pipes are now old and damaged and need to be repaired or replaced to improve our water quality and supply. Despite the challenges, we're on track to save 166 million litres of drinking water daily by 2021.
Our plan for Ireland
As part of the national Leakage Reduction Programme, we're working with Local Authorities across the country to fix 1,500 leaks per month. Our leakage reduction crews are working hard to find and fix these leaks nationwide to protect Ireland's water supplies. View our videos below to find out more about the Leakage Reduction Programme and what we’re doing to reduce leakage across Ireland.
Leakage Reduction Programme Playlist
We're on track to save 166 million litres of drinking water daily by 2021. That’s enough water to fill 66 Olympic-size swimming pools every day.
How we're reducing leakage across Ireland
There are 7 different types of work streams involved in the Leakage Reduction Programme:
The Story of Water
‘The Story Of Water’ is a documentary that focuses on the critical value of our most precious natural resource and the current state of Ireland’s public water network. View our chapter on leakage below.
Free leak repairs
First Fix Free is our scheme for repairing leaks in homes across Ireland. We’ll investigate if you have a leak in your external supply pipe and fix it for free if we find one. So far, an estimated *150 million litres of water per day has been saved as a result of this scheme to the end of Q2 2019. *First Fix Leak Repair Scheme For Domestic Water Customers Quarterly Report - Q2, 2019.
Leakage Reduction Programme benefits
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A more reliable water supply: Fixing and replacing old, damaged pipes prone to bursts, reducing disruption and outages for customers.
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Improved water quality: Reducing health risks and contamination by replacing aging, damaged cast iron and lead pipes.
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Reducing high levels of leakage: Reducing the amount of clean drinking water lost into the ground by replacing old, damaged pipes.
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Individual water connections: Reducing disruptions by replacing shared and back yard services with new, individual supply connections.
How you can help
One of the challenges is finding leaks in the first place which is where we need your help.
Vulnerable Customer Services
You can register yourself or someone you know for our Vulnerable Customer Services. Register online or sign up to receive text message supply updates. If you would prefer to speak to a member of our Customer Care team, please contact us on 1850 278 278. Rates charged for 1850 numbers may vary. Calls from mobiles may be more expensive.
Stay Safe
Irish Water staff and contractors will always identify themselves and show you their identity card. If you are unsure, please refuse access and call us on 1800 278 278 to confirm or visit our Stay Safe page.
Visit our Project & Plans section to find out what's happening in your area