Athlone Deputy Mayor, Cllr Aengus O’Rourke, has welcomed plans announced by Irish Water to replace old water mains particularly within the Retreat residential area.
“The residents in the Retreat area of Athlone have for some time now experienced problems with water pressure, supply and at at times discolouration.
“Thankfully, over the coming weeks Irish Water, working in partnership with Westmeath County Council, will progress the Athlone scheme to replace old water mains around the town by next targeting the Retreat area. This work when complete will improve the security of supply, water pressure and also reduce the high levels of leakage in the area.
“The works will involve the replacement of over 400 metres of old and broken water mains in Retreat Heights with new, high density polyethylene (plastic ) pipes which will reduce the number of bursts and water outages and will ensure a reliable supply of water to residents in the area.
“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 customer’s water supply. Where existing service connections on the public side are lead these will be replaced as part of this improvement work.
“I have impressed upon Irish Water and Westmeath County Council the need to minimise the impact on residents and traffic in the area during the works. They have assured me that they will work in short sections as this will be more easily managed from a local traffic point of view. However, traffic management may be in place during this time to facilitate the safe delivery of these works, local and emergency access will always be maintained.
“I am informed by Irish Water that the works may involve some short-term supply disruptions. I have asked that residents are given a minimum of 48 hours notice prior to any planned water outages, and this has been agreed.
“These works will be carried out on behalf of Irish Water by GMC Utilities and are expected to commence before the end of August and be completed by the end of September.
“If anyone locally has concerns they can make contact with me or directly to Irish Water customer care on their 24/7 helpline 1800 278 278.
“It is interesting to note that as a result of leakage reduction works in the Athlone area since 2019, over five million litres of water has been saved daily across the town,” Cllr O’Rourke asserted.
