Irish Water has announced that there will be water supply disruptions in several areas in the Greater Dublin area this week as “critical repair work” is carried out.
Dublin, parts of Kildare and Wicklow may experience water supply disruptions on Tuesday (13 August) and Wednesday (14 August), including low water pressure, discoloured water or complete water supply outages.
The repair work is necessary to repair a section of the main water pipeline that connects the Ballymore Eustace water treatment plant to the Saggart reservoir, which supplies about a third of the water in the greater Dublin area, Irish Water said.
Ballymore Eustace is the largest water treatment plant in the country. Saggart Reservoir was recently upgraded to store drinking water. A potential burst pipe would mean massive water outages affecting 1.7 million people and taking weeks to repair.
Mark O’Duffy of Irish Water said that given the age, location and size of the pipeline, extensive planning and preparation was required.
“Uisce Éireann has identified that this section of water main has the potential to burst and that if repair work is not carried out, there could be significant disruption to customers,” Mr O’Duffy said. “Due to the size, age and location of the main, this is a complex and challenging project.”
“In order to carry out this work and minimise the impact on the water supply, extensive planning and preparation has been carried out in advance. Specialist teams will work day and night as quickly as possible to complete the repairs and restore normal water supplies. However, there is a risk of supply disruption during this work and for a period afterwards.
“We are appealing to customers in the Greater Dublin area to conserve water in order to maintain water supplies for everyone during the critical repair works. Water flowing through this important pipeline will be turned off during this time.
“Uisce Éireann has prepared for this by ensuring that all of our water storage facilities in the region are as full as possible. However, customers can do their part and help avoid water outages for themselves and others by using less water.”
“We will keep our customers updated and advised of any potential supply disruptions while we carry out these important repair works,” Mr O’Duffy continued. “Uisce Éireann recognises the inconvenience caused by disruptions to water supplies and thanks communities for their patience and co-operation while we carry out these important works.”
Irish Water added that most homes and businesses would have on-site water storage to provide a backup water source, but advised customers to ration their water while repairs were carried out.
A full map of repairs can be found on the Irish Water website.
