Irish Water to replace 3.5km of water mains in rural Tipperary community

Irish Water is to replace 3.5km of water mains and install a water booster station in the Coalbrook area where 1,200 households and businesses have suffered water outages and reduced supply in recent weeks.
The water outages and poor water pressure endured by Irish Water customers living in Coalbrook, Ballinastick, Earlshill, Ballincurry, Glengall, Ballingarry and surrounding areas were caused by a number of bursts to water mains serving the Coalbrook Public Water Supply.
Two water mains bursts occurred over the same weekend two weeks ago but have since been repaired.
John Crowley of Tipperary County Council’s Water Services Section informed Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District’s monthly meeting of the planned investment in upgrading the Coalbrook Public Water Supply infrastructure.
The senior executive engineer said the recent water mains bursts have resulted in water levels in the local reservoir dropping and it was likely customers in the area will continue to experience lower water pressure and intermittent water outages.
Options
Mr Crowley pointed out that short term options to increase water supply were being examined such as creating another bore hole but the long term solution was to supply the area from the Fethard Regional Water Scheme.
Ballingarry’s Cllr Imelda Goldsboro welcomed the funding approval for the 3.5km of new water mains and booster station for the Coalbrook Water Supply but noted the project won’t be completed until the end of 2022.
Heartache
She said the water outages and low water pressure in the supply over the last number of weeks caused a lot of heartache in her area, particularly among elderly vulnerable residents.
“I was assured that once Irish Water was notified resources would be put in place for these individuals but that hasn’t happened,” she complained.
She asked could households where there were people and children with medical issues apply for a water well grant because they were experiencing these water outages and not getting a regular water supply.
VULNERABLE
Mr Crowley said it was important to register vulnerable water supply customers with Irish Water to make sure they are on the Vulnerable Person’s List.
“In the event there is a water outage for any long period of time, they are provided with bottled water,” he told the meeting.
He promised to come back to Cllr Goldsboro in relation to her query about the water well grant.