A programme of work is set to begin in County Clare to replace almost 1,850m of problematic water mains in Tullabrack/Gower.

Irish Water is working with Clare County Council to deliver the project under its National Leakage Reduction Programme.

Contractor Shareridge Ltd will begin work tomorrow, 20 October, with the project expected to reach completion by early December 2021.

Works will take place on the R483 Cooraclare Road, starting adjacent to Tullabrack Lough and running for approximately 1,850m towards Cooraclare.

The project also involves laying new water service connections from the public watermain to customers' property boundaries and connecting it to the customers' water supply. Where the existing service connections on the public side are lead these will be replaced as part of this improvement work.

-- Advertisement --

Outlining the benefits the mains replacement will bring, Gerry O'Donnell, Asset Delivery Regional Lead for Irish Water, explained: "The upgrading of these watermains will benefit the locals by strengthening and reinforcing the water network, hopefully leading to the reduction of drinking water that is lost due to leakage. It will minimising future disruptions to the communities water supply by reducing leakage and creating a more stable network – ultimately providing a better service and better water quality for all."

Mr O'Donnell added: "To facilitate the safe delivery of the upgrades, there will be some traffic management in place, however local and emergency access will be maintained at all times. 

"Areas of work will be limited to short sections to minimise impact on customers. Traffic management may be in place during this time. Local and emergency traffic will always be maintained.

"The works may involve some short-term water outages and the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours' notice prior to any planned water outages. We understand that this type of work can be inconvenient and our crews will make every effort to minimise any disruption as we continue to improve the water supply in Clare and progress the National Leakage Reduction Programme."