Irish Water has announced plans for vital water mains improvements in the County Offaly town of Portarlington.

The utility is working alongside Offaly County Council to replace ageing backyard water mains in St Patrick's Terrace.

Scheduled to begin next week, the works will involve the decommissioning of ageing backyard water mains and the delivery of new water mains on the public road. New service connections for customers will also be provided.

In some older estates across the country water connections, typically made of iron or lead, were installed to the rear of properties, often referred to as backyard service connections. The pipework due to age and deterioration factors can be a significant source of leakage. Backyard water services are usually shared, running through neighbouring properties making it difficult to detect and repair leaks. Since properties may share a connection, leaks and bursts can affect all properties in a neighbourhood which can result in low pressure. This project will strive to alleviate these issues for properties in St Patrick's Terrace in Portarlington.

-- Advertisement --

Speaking about the project, Joe Carroll, Regional Delivery Lead said: "The first step in ensuring the delivery of this essential project required a survey of each property prior to the commencement of the works. This was to assess the current water connection arrangements in place and to also facilitate discussion on the best way to connect the new service connection to the customers' homes.

"We would like to thank the local community in advance for their patience and cooperation while we deliver this essential water network improvement project."

The works, when they commence. 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. Where water mains are being constructed traffic management may be in place during this time, but local and emergency traffic will be maintained at all times.

Customers to benefit from these improvement work have been contacted directly by Ward & Burke Construction Ltd who are carrying out the works on behalf of Irish Water. The works are expected to be completed by the end of November.