Irish Water is moving forward with water main replacement works in Westmeath as part of a national drive to reduce leakage and improve supply.

The utility is working alongside Westmeath County Council to replace over 500 metres of old and broken water mains in Mullenoran, Bunbrosna, between Mullenoran Bridge and the R393. High density polyethylene (plastic) pipes will be installed which will reduce the number of bursts and water outages and ensure a reliable supply of water to customers and local businesses.

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

-- Advertisement --

To facilitate the safe delivery of these works, traffic management will be in place to include a road closure from Monday 23 August to Friday 10 September 2021 with diversions in place via the N4, R394 and R393. Local and emergency access will be maintained at all times.

The works may involve some short-term water outages, however, the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours' notice prior to any planned water outages. Irish Water and Westmeath County Council regret any inconvenience these improvement works may cause.

The works, which are scheduled to begin on 23 August, will be carried out on behalf of Irish Water by GMC Utilities and are expected to be completed by the end of September. These essential works will be delivered in adherence with the HSE and government guidance on COVID-19.

Speaking about the project Matt Thomson, Leakage Reduction Programme Regional Lead with Irish Water said: "We understand that this type of work can be inconvenient and will ensure our work crews make every effort to minimise any disruption these works may cause. We would like to thank the local community, businesses, homeowners and commuters for their patience and cooperation while we deliver these vital water network improvement works to safeguard the water supply in Bunbrosna."