Irish Water has confirmed that the long-awaited upgrade of the reservoir at Rockmount near Miltown Malbay will go to tender in early January.
Clare TD Michael McNamara has received the confirmation and said, “The tender documents are complete and will be issued to market early next month. Planning permission for the reservoir has been granted by Clare County Council and funding has been allocated for the construction of this reservoir in 2021. Increasing capacity at Rockmount is key to building resilience into the group scheme network, which has experienced frequent disruption in recent years.”
Deputy McNamara added that ongoing works to replace the old watermain from Miltown Malbay to Mullagh will be completed in early 2021.
He continued, “The contractor set up a compound and started welding pipework in late October and pipelaying started on 10th November. Irish Water has informed me that nearly 2km of pipelaying works have been completed as of Friday, 4th December. It is planned to lay 3km by the end of this month with the remaining 1.7km to be laid in January and February. This is welcome news for business and home owners in Miltown Malbay, Mullagh, Spanish Point and surrounding areas who have faced regular water outages due to burst mains.”
Meanwhile, Irish Water has this week responded to representations made by Deputy McNamara in relation to the proposed replacement of the water mains serving Cree, Cooraclare and Doonbeg.
“Irish Water has informed me it is currently working in conjunction with Clare County Council to identify and prioritise the poorest performing sections of mains throughout the county for inclusion in its 2021 Mains Rehab programme using a risk-based approach. Sections of mains in Cree, Cooraclare and Doonbeg are included in this assessment,” said Deputy McNamara.
In a written response to Deputy McNamara, Irish Water added, “Irish Water is focused on improving service and reducing leaks across Ireland by fixing or replacing old, damaged water pipes and removing lead pipes on the public network. This is a significant undertaking with the current resources and budget available and we are using a risk-based approach to planning this work.”