Irish Water, working in partnership with Cork City Council, is set to commence works on the replacement of lead service connections in Turners Cross as part of the utility’s national Leakage Reduction Programme.
The works are due to commence in Turners Cross on Monday, September 14. These works will remove approximately 80 lead service connections on the public side, which will be replaced with polyethylene plastic pipes.
The works will be carried out by Coffey Northumbrian Ltd. on behalf of Irish Water with lead service connections being replaced on St. Patrick’s Road (West), Friars Road (Middle), Father Matthew Road (Middle and West) and Mount Pleasant Road in the Turners Cross area. The Turners Cross Lead Replacement Project is part of Irish Water’s national Leakage Reduction Programme.
Commenting, Irish Water’s Water Network Regional Lead Steven Blennerhassett, said: “These works will be carried out by Coffey Northumbrian Ltd. on behalf of Irish Water. The project is expected to be completed in approximately 7 weeks.”
The work sections will be limited to short sections to minimise impact on customers. The works will involve laying a new polyethylene water supply pipe from the public water main in the street to the customer’s property boundary and connecting it to the customer’s water supply. The works may involve some short-term water shut offs and the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours prior notice of any planned water shut offs. Customers can contact the Irish Water call centre on 1850 278 278 if they have any queries.
Traffic management will be in place for the duration of the works and local and emergency traffic will be maintained at all times.
This project forms part of Irish Water’s investment plan. Works have been prioritised to address the most critical issues in line with commitments outlined in Irish Water’s Business Plan. Delivery of the business plan will involve a €5.5 billion investment in capital spending on drinking water and wastewater quality and capacity and new infrastructure up to 2021. This plan includes an investment in leakage reduction and water quality initiatives, called the Leakage Reduction Programme, which will see an investment of €512 million during the period to 2021. These works are vital to ensuring a clean, safe and reliable public water supply to support our growing population and economy.
Leakage Reduction Programme
The Leakage Reduction Programme began in 2017 and will continue to the end of 2021 and will see over €500m invested to reduce the high leakage rate in our water network.
Some of Ireland’s water network, particularly in urban areas is over a century old. Every day 1.7 billion litres of water is distributed through the network but almost half of this clean water is lost through leaks. The target is to save approximately 180 million litres of water per day – that’s enough water to fill 72 Olympic-size swimming pools every day.
Irish Water’s Leakage Reduction Programme will fix or replace old, damaged pipes and remove any lead pipes from the public network. Households who currently share a supply connection will also be directly connected to the public water mains. This will ensure that customers have a more reliable service and experience fewer water outages due to bursts and leaks.
Lead in drinking water
Lead in drinking water is a recognised health concern. There are no lead water mains in Ireland, however, service connections within properties can contain traces of lead. The vast majority of lead pipes are contained within properties built up to and including the 1970’s. Whether you have lead pipes or fittings depends on the age of your property and your existing pipes and/or pipe fittings.
Irish Water is responsible for the pipe from the outer edge of the boundary of a proIrish Water and Cork City Council replacing lead service connections in Turners Cross
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