Irish Water and Galway County Council have announced an invest of €7 million in the rehabilitation and replacement of approximately 19km of watermains across County Galway.

Work will being in March and is expected to be completed by autumn 2017. The contract was signed on Friday, 5 February with Carty Contractors Ltd.

The project will involve the rehabilitation of watermains in Carraroe, Spiddal, Inishmore and Loughrea and will benefit 16,000 customers in the areas. The project will improve security of supply by strengthening and reinforcing the water networks, reducing leakage and disruptions to supply and improving water quality. The project will also include the replacement of service connections to properties currently served by shared watermains located in the backyard of properties.

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The replacement of shared backyard services will involve the laying of new watermains on the public road adjacent to the properties and connecting the main to the properties by a new individual service connection. Irish Water will carry out the work in sections to minimise disruption to residents, businesses and road users. The benefits of replacing shared backyard services include improved water pressure, reduce leakage, improved maintenance (if a repair is required in the future, Irish Water will not have to disrupt homeowners by requesting access to their property) and directly connect customers’ properties to the watermain rather than having a shared responsibility for a communal service.

Commenting on the investment announcement Sean Corrigan, Regional Information Officer at Irish Water said: "The replacement of defective watermains and water services connections is vital to reduce leakage levels in the county. This project will ensure the communities in Carraroe, Spiddal, Inishmore and Loughrea will have a secure and reliable water supply to their homes and businesses. We will work closely with homeowners and businesses in these areas to ensure that they are kept up to date on when work will take place in their area and are advise them of any planned shut offs while the work is being carried out. Irish Water has a target to reduce network leakage to less than 38% by 2021 and this project is part of our plan to achieve this target."