Kilkenny County Council’s Water Conservation Project is going to reduce water wastage and allow for more housing to be built in certain areas.
This is according to senior executive engineer Michael Murphy who presented the members of the local authority with a new report on the project at this month’s meeting of Kilkenny County Council.
The objectives of the plan are to reduce the overall level of water loss, maximise the value of the investment in existing infrastructure, lower operating costs and improve the level of service to consumers.
The current levels of leakage in Kilkenny are 4.4m gals from 7m gals a day which adds up to 62 per cent of water being lost to leaks.
The council is hoping to reduce this leakage to 45 per cent by the end of stage 2 of the programme in 2010.
Leak detection commenced in January this year and three teams are operating in the county. Leak repair is due to begin in March with an estimated 1,300 leaks to be repaired. The installation of pressure reduction equipment will also be introduced at suitable locations.
Director of service Philip O’ Neill told the members that this new programme would allow for more housing to be build in areas where housing was not permitted in the past due to water shortages in the area.
“This is the real advantage of this programme. We will have staff in place and they are currently in training and they will be dedicated to this water conservation programme. This has to happen first. By reducing the loss of water we are maximising the effectiveness of the capital works that are taking place to our water systems around the county. We are reducing leaks and increasing water and that is the philosophy of this programme,” he said.
