Phil Hogan, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, yesterday approved the commitment of the necessary capital funding to enable Galway City Council accept the tender of €600,000 from Shareridge Ltd to carry out works under the National Water Conservation Programme.
The works provide for District Meter Installation for Galway city and will involve the installation of bulk meters, many of which will be new meter chambers, and the installation of sluice valves in order to establish 80 District Meter Areas in Galway City.
Once established, the District Meter Areas will enable the council to better access demands and flows in smaller sections of the city’s water network in order to ensure a better water supply in the city. In addition the council will be able to prioritise sections of the network that may need replacement / rehabilitation under the water conservation programme to address, for example, water leakage, security of supply, water quality or flow restriction.
“Galway City Council’s proposals reflect the importance of water conservation as a key objective under my Department’s Water Services Investment Programme 2010 – 2012 to reduce water loss in the public supply networks,” the Minister said. “It is difficult to justify major capital expenditure on new water supply infrastructure unless we also tackle high unaccounted for water levels in the existing supply systems.
