Works begin to replace damaged water mains serving Limerick community

HUNDREDS of residents in County Limerick are set to benefit from a significant upgrade to the water supply network which is currently underway.

Uisce Éireann, in partnership with Limerick City and County Council, has announced it has began upgrading the water supply in Lisnafulla, to provide a more reliable water supply and reduce leakage to homes and businesses.

The significant works, close to Broadford village in west Limerick, involve the replacement of more than 2km of damaged water mains with new modern pipes.

The utility says ageing pipes can, over time, significantly impact water quality, leakage levels, and pressure and that replacing these pipes will greatly reduce the levels of leakage and bursts resulting in service interruptions impacting customers. 

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Motorists are being advised the section of works will take place on the Lisnafulla Road (L7097), from the crossroads at the L1311 and end at the crossroads exiting onto the R515.

Crews will also lay new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers’ property boundaries and connecting it to customers’ water supply. 

Uisce Éireann’s Programme Manager Kevin Murphy explained the works, which get underway this week, will also put an end to the loss of treated drinking water into the ground. 

“The stretch of pipework we’re replacing is old and has caused outages for locals. The benefits of this work will be felt by the entire community for generations to come.” 

The works will be carried out by Shareridge Civil Engineering on behalf of Uisce Éireann and are expected to be complete by the end of October.

In the meantime, areas of works will be limited to short sections to minimise impact on customers. Traffic management will be in place with traffic lights. However, members of the local community are being assured that local and emergency traffic will be maintained at all times.  

Households are being advised there may be some short-term water interruptions, but the project team will ensure that customers are given a minimum of 48 hours’ notice prior to any planned interruptions.  

“We understand that this type of work can cause inconvenience for the local community, but our crews will make every effort to minimise any disruptions,” added Mr Murphy. 

The project in Lisnafulla forms part of Uisce Eireann’s National Leakage Reduction Programme and will help it achieve its goal of having a national leakage rate of 25% by 2023.