Commencement date for work on Parteen-Westbury water mains welcomed
Confirmation has been received from Irish Water that a planned €1.5 million upgrade to the water mains serving the Parteen-Westbury area is to commence on January 24.
Work will be carried out by night to replace the decades-old, leak-prone pipes with new state-of-the-art ductile iron pipes, to eliminate the persistent leakage issue impacting homeowners in the area.
“It’s absolutely fantastic that we now have a commencement date for this essential upgrade in the Parteen-Westbury area,” said Fianna Fáil TD for Clare Cathal Crowe.
“I live in this locality myself and in recent years, we have become accustomed to having water outages at least once a month.
“In 2020, there was a total of 15 outages to everybody’s huge frustration.
“When the water goes, people have to try to buy bottled water from the supermarkets but after short periods, this invariably sells out and the council then come down with water tankards from which people fill buckets and cannisters.
“It’s hard to believe, in the 21st century, that one of the most populated corners of Co. Clare and indeed Westbury – which is Munster’s largest housing estate – could be served with such decrepit water mains.
“The water mains measures 12 inches in diameter and it’s largely made up of old asbestos pipes which were laid from the 1960s to 1980s.
“These pipes are very susceptible to bursting and they struggle to carry water at its highest pressures.
“The new pipeline to be laid will be made of ductile iron, which is a far more durable material, and generally tends not to burst.
“Once this pipeline is fitted, water outages should become a thing of the past for almost 5,000 South Clare residents.
“I’m glad that the works are being carried out by night so as to minimise traffic disruption on the local road network.
“I’m appealing to Irish Water to fast-track Phase 2 of planned water mains improvements in South Clare, to bring the new water pipe beyond Larkin’s Cross so that it goes as far as O’Connor’s Cross in Parteen.
“This further extension would provide a modern pipe system for more than 60 homes in the Gortatogher and Knockballynameath townlands.
“On Christmas Eve, homes in this locality lost their water supply and didn’t have it restored until St Stephen’s Day.
“These homes, many of which were built in the 1970s, are on a water pipe system which runs parallel to another section of mains pipe.
“Whenever there’s an outage in the locality, they are usually the last to get their supply back.
“Bringing a new pipe from Athlunkard Bridge to Larkin’s Cross will address a lot of the problems in the locality, but won’t do much for these residents, and on this basis I am doing everything I can to ensure that Phase 2 is fast-tracked and that these homeowners are not left behind.”