Work has been announced in the O'Rahilly's Villas and Rae Street area of County Kerry to tackle high levels of leakage on the water network.

Beginning on Monday 02 March, Irish Water will work with Kerry County Council to replace over 660 meters of problematic water mains as part of the utility's national Leakage Reduction Programme.

Work will initially begin on Lower Basin View and O'Rahilly's Villas. For the duration of these works, a diversion will be in place via Rae Street, Strand Street and Basin Road. This section of works is expected to be complete in five weeks and will require a road closure.

Following completion of the works on Lower Basin View and O'Rahilly's Villas, a new road surface is to be laid in this area. Water mains rehabilitation works will stop to allow for the road resurfacing works to be completed, in order to facilitate diverted traffic. Works will then continue on Rae Street when the road resurfacing works are completed at Lower Basin View and O'Rahilly's Villas.

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For the duration of works on Rae Street, a diversion will be in place via O'Rahilly's Villas, Strand Street and Basin Road. This section of works is expected to be completed in three weeks and will require a road closure.

All of the works will involve replacing old, damaged pipes which will be replaced with modern, polyethylene (plastic) pipes.

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 customers' water supply. Where existing service connections on the public side are lead, these will be replaced as part of this improvement work.

"Irish Water would like to thank the local community, businesses, homeowners and commuters for their patience and cooperation while we continue to deliver this vital water network improvement project in Tralee," said Steven Blennerhasset, Leakage Reduction Programme Regional Lead, Irish Water.  

"Replacing the old, damaged pipes will safeguard water supply in the area. The new water mains and service connections will reduce the instances of bursts and water outages.These improvements to the water network are essential in providing a safe, secure and reliable water supply, now and into the future. We are working closely with our partners, Kerry County Council, to complete this section of works before road resurfacing works commence along Lower Basin View and O'Rahilly's Villas."

(CM/JG)