by Alan Jacques
FOLLOWING claims by a local councillor that Irish Water failed to plug leaks in Limerick’s water system, the company has revealed details of its plans to tackle leakage reduction in the city.
Recent reports confirming that 40 per cent of Limerick water will be lost through leaks this year enraged Sinn Féin councillor Maurice Quinlivan to such a degree that he descibed Irish Water as a “charade” in last week’s Limerick Post.
He also predicted that water supply and leaks will get worse because of the “ham-fisted” manner in which the metering programme is being rolled out.
However, a spokeswoman for Irish Water pointed out that a €1.6 million water mains rehabilitation contract to reduce leakage and decommission common backyard services in Ballynanty was completed in January.
“As part of the Ballynanty contract, 2871 metres of new water mains have been installed, tested and commissioned into service,” she said.
She said that 311 properties in Ballynanty served by lead pipework were now provided with new individual supplies.
Meanwhile, 71 properties in the estate that were previously supplied by individual non-lead services from mains have been provided with new individual service connections, transferring them to supply from the newly installed water mains.
A further water mains rehabilitation contract to replace old lead serviced and to decommission common backyard services commenced in Kileely in January and is due for completion in May.
“This work will consist of the replacement of approximately 1,100m of cast iron water mains and 363 consumer service connections, including the decommissioning of 347 common lead services,” the spokeswoman explained.
The Limerick City Water Conservation Project – Water Mains Rehabilitation Project – Works Package 2, went to tender at the start of February. It is due to start in June and will take nine months to complete. It includes the replacement of 11km of water main and 1,800 new service connections including 1,400 lead service connections.
The Limerick Trunk Main Commissioning Contract, valued at €1.87 million, also commenced this month and is due for completion in December.
“This contract includes the commissioning of a new trunk main laid around the south side of Limerick City. This will allow the old mains, which are susceptible to bursting, to be taken out of service. It will also enable improved pressure management of the network and reduce the frequency of bursts and water loss.”
According to Irish Water, a number of minor works projects are also due to be rolled out. On the Dooradoyle Road, an existing asbestos cement main is to be replaced with a new 200mm diameter ductile iron main over a length of 630 metres, as well as the replacement of 20 house connections.
Other works include the replacement of an existing water main at Forest View, Kilmallock, with 260 metres of new 100mm uPVC water main in the estate road. Water mains rehabilitation has also been approved for St Nessan’s Road and Croom.
However, the schedule of work outlined by Irish Water did little to convince Cllr Quinlivan who stated again this week that Sinn Féin in government will scrap water charges. He added that the public already pay for water through general taxation and that it is deeply unfair to heap the charge onto the shoulders of ordinary people who have already borne the cost of austerity.
“I welcome any reduction in water leakage levels but it is clear that the recent plan announced by Irish Water is unrealistic. It will take a quarter of a century for Irish Water to reduce leakage to “acceptable levels” and at least a decade to remove dangerous lead piping from the public mains.
“There is no way they can source the money they say is required to do this work. The reduced water charges won’t plug the gap and even if 70 per cent of people would pay this odious charge it will come nowhere near the annual cost of fixing the pipes,” he concluded.
