Major new water works to disrupt supplies and traffic in Kilkenny city for weeks

RESIDENTS and businesses in Kilkenny city face more major disruption as significant works get underway to replace old cast iron water mains.

The works to decommission the cast iron water mains will begin this morning on James’s Street and are set to continue for the next two months.

Irish Water warned the works “may involve some short-term water shut offs”, but they said local residents and businesses would be given “a minimum of 48 hours’ notice” beforehand.  

Traffic management systems will also be put in place while works are underway, but Irish Water stressed “local and emergency traffic will be maintained at all times”.

Irish Water, working in partnership with Kilkenny County Council, will replace over 140m of old, damaged pipes in the area with modern, high density plastic pipes.

This work is a part of Irish Water’s €500 million investment between 2017-2021, which will reduce leakage and replace old pipes on the public water network.

Irish Water said it is replacing these pipes “to reduce the instances of bursts and water outages”. It added the works “will ensure a reliable supply of water to customers and local businesses in the area”.

Irish Water said in a statement: “Most of the water mains network in Kilkenny City is extremely dated. As they get older, cast iron pipes can become severely corroded and have a high level of leakage as well as being subject to frequent bursts. At the moment, it is estimated that almost half of treated drinking water in Ireland is lost to leakage.”

The works will also involve laying new water service connections from the public water main in the road to customers’ property boundaries and connecting it to the customers’ water supply.

These works to improve availability of water supply to the city centre area are a continuation of the works already completed on Patrick’s Street in 2018 and currently underway in Dean Street.

Mark O’Duffy, Network Programme Lead for Irish Water, said: “We would like to thank the local community and local businesses for their patience and understanding while these essential works take place.

“These works will benefit homes and businesses in Kilkenny city and will ensure the future safety and secure supply of water for the area.”