Essential maintenance works are set to take place on the Cork city water supply.

Uisce Éireann and Cork City Council are collaborating to address ongoing intermittent discolouration issues in the Douglas Road, South Douglas Road and surrounding areas.

There are approximately 600km of watermains in Cork city, 60%-70% of which is made from cast iron and is up to 100 years old. This, combined with improvement works across the city, unplanned outages or bursts, and new infrastructure being brought online, is causing intermittent discolouration for a small number of customers. 

From Monday 13 to Friday 27 February, Uisce Éireann and Cork City Council will commence flushing works which involves isolating small sections of the network and clearing the watermains of any sediment from these old cast iron pipes to reduce discolouration of the water supply. 

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Work will initially commence from Westview on the South Douglas Road through to Greenhills Estate, including Half Moon Lane, Kilcolman Lawn, Palacemanne Lawn, Heatherton, Dosco Industrial Business Park and Park Avenue. Other areas outside these areas may experience some discolouration. Signage will be erected in advance of areas being flushed.

The works being carried out may cause a temporary discolouration of the water supply in the area. In the event of discolouration, running the tap for several minutes will usually restore water to a clear colour. Uisce Éireann continues to advise customers not to drink discoloured water.

Ongoing testing and analysis of the water supply continues in conjunction with extensive monitoring across the city's distribution network. This ensures the water is compliant with drinking water regulations and is safe to drink. The results of these ongoing tests are shared with the EPA and the HSE.