Uisce Éireann continue pipe replacement work in north Mayo town

Work on the replacement of old water pipes in Ballina will continue with Uisce Éireann crews scheduled to begin work on Emmet Street.

Prior to Christmas, works along Dillon Terrace, Pearse Street, Pawn Office Lane, Humbert Street and Walsh Street in the north Mayo capital were completed and now Uisce Éireann crews delivering the project to secure the town centre’s water supply for generations to come have begun night works on Emmet Street.

Farrans Construction, who are carrying out the project on behalf of Uisce Éireann, will work from 7pm to 7am in order to minimise disruption to local traffic.

The same crews ensured they were off the busy main streets ahead of the Christmas shopping period and now the works along the River Moy will take place at night.

Uisce Éireann’s Enda Mac Namara thanked the community in Ballina for their continued support.

“We’re delighted to be continuing our works in Ballina into 2025, replacing even more ageing pipes. The community in Ballina has been hugely supportive of this project and we want to ensure there is as little disruption for them as possible while we deliver it. As with previous sections of work a traffic management system will be in place during the work periods, but local and emergency traffic will be maintained at all times.”

Last year Uisce Éireann began the progressive task of replacing more than 1.3km of old pipes which were creating supply disruption in Ballina’s town centre.

The old pipework was susceptible to bursts but those unplanned outages are becoming a thing of the past.

“Locals are already feeling the benefits of our 2024 works firsthand with fewer bursts and have been hugely supportive of our crews on their ground. This project will deliver a much more reliable water supply to the town for years to come.”

The Ballina project forms part of Uisce Éireann's National Leakage Reduction Programme and will help the utility to achieve its 2030 goal of a national leakage rate of 25 percent. The state-owned water utility company says its National Leakage Reduction team has made great strides since 2018, when the leakage rate stood at 46 percent.

They added that since 2018, Uisce Éireann has invested more than €500 million to upgrade the underground water network across the country through the delivery of the national Leakage Reduction Programme. Uisce Éireann say they are investing a further €250 million every year up to the end of 2030 - fixing leaks and replacing pipes to provide a more reliable water supply.