Upgrades to improve water supply and water quality in Glaslough

Uisce Éireann working in partnership with Monaghan County Council, is delighted to confirm that works replacing over 1km of old problematic water mains in Glaslough is now complete. This will ensure improved water quality and a more reliable water supply to customers in the area.

The works involved the replacement of 1,164m of problematic water mains with high density polyethylene (plastic) pipes. The programme to replace the water mains in Glaslough was completed in December 2020. The works were carried out by Farran's Construction Limited on behalf of Uisce Éireann as part of Uisce Éireann's National Leakage Reduction Programme.

Coordinator of the Glaslough Tidy Towns, Louise Duffy, has welcomed the investment by Uisce Éireann which will benefit the village and surround area: "Glaslough is a picturesque, magical village with impressive historical and architectural features, beautiful stone cut period buildings and a unique, vibrant and welcoming community. It is renowned for its beauty as a tourist destination, and we have worked hard to make it a special place to live and visit. Glaslough are the current winners of the National Tidy Towns Competition, which was achieved in 2019. Part of Glaslough's success in the competition is the strategic planning and works of the community in terms of protecting our environment and our resources. Glaslough were keen to work with Uisce Éireann and Monaghan County Council to ensure the water mains replacement works were undertaken with minimum impact on the village. We are delighted that the works are now complete and that the village will now benefit from improved water quality."

Explaining the details of what the project delivered, Uisce Éireann's Leakage Reduction Programme Regional Lead Declan Cawley added: "We are delighted to confirm that sections of problematic water mains have now been successfully replaced in Glaslough. To improve drinking water supply and quality, reduce leaks and outages in the area and create operational efficiencies we decommissioned and replaced 1,164m of water mains along Main Street, Barrack Hill and the R185. We also took this opportunity to lay new water service connections from the public water main to customers' property boundaries and connect them to the customer's water supply as required."

Declan added: "The works did involve some short-term water shut offs and traffic management measures which we understand causes inconvenience to the local community. However, we would like to take this opportunity to thank customers and businesses for their patience while we completed these essential works."

The important role that the customers and businesses of Glaslough had to play in this project are also discussed by Uisce Éireann's Stakeholder Co-Ordinator and Communications Lead Grainne Carey. Grainne said: "The success of this project is also due to the public's participation in this project and in particular the close relationships built with the community of Glaslough. We were delighted to meet with members of the community prior to works commencing and explain the need for the works, the benefits of the works as well as providing technical details and introduce the project team including contractors."

Grainne continued: "We were delighted to build upon the relationship we had throughout this project and meet with students from St Mary's National School, Glaslough. This also afforded us an opportunity to explain the project and develop awareness around water conservation and how to effectively manage this important resource in our schools and at home."

This project is one example of how we are working in partnership with Monaghan County Council to reduce leaks every day. Fixing leaks can be complicated with over 63,000 km of water pipe in Ireland. Most leaks aren't visible, resulting in precious water being lost but we are making progress. In 2018 the rate of leakage nationally was 46%, by the end of 2019 it was 42% and we are currently on course to achieve a national leakage rate of 38% by 2021.
The National Leakage Reduction Programme helps provide a more reliable water supply to Irish communities, reduce high levels of leakage and improve water quality. Its delivery means investment of over €500 million between 2017 and 2021 to reduce leakage and replace old pipes on the water network.

Further information on Uisce Éireann's National Leakage Reduction Programme is also available on our website.