Irish Water has saved over 7.5 million litres of water across Laois since commencing the Leakage Reduction Programme in 2018.
Irish Water has worked closely with Laois County Council to save water across the county as a result of leakage reduction and repair works this year.
That is enough water to supply over 13,000 people per day. The works involved replacing old and damaged water mains as well as providing new service connections, find and fixing leaks and controlling and managing pressure more effectively to improve security of water supply.
This has significantly reduced the number of bursts, water outages and incidents of low water pressure, resulting in a more reliable water supply for homes and businesses in Laois.
Since the commencement of these extensive works at the start of 2021, 3.4km of new water mains were installed in Church Avenue, Stradbally; Colliers Lane, Portlaoise; and Tonduff, Abbeyleix saving over 118,000 litres daily.
54 old lead service connections have been replaced in Brockley Park, Stradbally and O’Daly Terrace, Rathdowney increasing the security of supply.
In Mountmellick Road, Portlaoise, installation of pressure reducing valves (PRV) has significantly improved water pressure for homes and businesses saving 120,000 litres a day.
Through their Find and Fix Scheme, 54 public side leaks have been repaired in Portlaoise, Mountmellick, Portarlington and Rathdowney saving a significant 1.2 million litres of water per day.
The First Fix for Free scheme saw 48 households have leaks on their property’s external supply pipe repaired at no cost to them.
These free private side repairs resulted in a daily saving of 350,000 litres. The First Fix Free scheme offers free leak investigations and repairs to customers where a constant flow of water is found on their external water supply pipe.
These extensive leakage reduction works have helped reduce demand for treated water in these areas helping to safeguard the security of supply for the future.
Tom O’Carroll, Executive Engineer Laois County Council, said: “As a result of the collaborative work between Irish Water and Laois County Council, local communities across Laois are enjoying a more secure and reliable water supply.
“Fixing leaks can be complicated with over 63,000km of water pipe in Ireland. Most leaks aren’t visible, resulting in precious water being lost, but we are making progress and efforts to reduce leakage are continuing through the national Leakage Reduction Programme.
“We remain committed to successfully delivering this programme of works and improving the overall water supply in County Laois.’’
Minister Pippa Hackett said: “Clean water is a very valuable resource and conserving it is an important Climate Action.
“I welcome the news from Irish Water that leakage reduction and repair works have saved over 1.7 million litres of water per day across Co Laois this year.”
SEE ALSO – Doctor raises health concerns as 43,000 vehicles pass through Laois town every week
