Major project to replace century old pipeline serving Dublin City East completed

Further milestone reached in Uisce Éireann's mission to drive down leakage and enable social and economic growth

Uisce Éireann, in partnership with Dublin City Council, has completed a major project to upgrade and improve the water supply for over 80,000 homes and businesses across Sandymount and the eastern part of Dublin City.

The project involved the replacement of over 3km of old and deteriorated arterial trunk main, running underneath Beach Road and Strand Road in Sandymount, which serviced the entire eastern part of Dublin City. This aged trunk main, which was constructed almost 100 years ago, was prone to frequent bursts and leakage due to its fragile and deteriorating condition. This caused ongoing supply issues for thousands of customers and considerable volumes of treated water had been lost into the ground.

Works to replace the pipeline were completed in Q3 2023 with final landscaping and reseeding works continuing in conjunction with Dublin City Council. As a result of the successful completion of this essential project, homes and businesses across Sandymount and Dublin City East are now enjoying a safer, more secure water supply that will last for generations. The upgrades will also support future growth and development by providing the necessary infrastructure needed to support future economic and social growth.

The project has also significantly reduced the amount of treated water lost to leakage, helping Uisce Éireann reach another milestone in its mission to drive the national leakage rate down to 25% by the end of 2030.

Declan Healy, Uisce Éireann programme manager, said: "Over the last decade, this pipeline continued to burst and leak, causing major operational challenges to ensure minimum supply disruption for the local community while undertaking complex and difficult repairs."

"This was a difficult and complex project which involved working around a myriad of underground services such as gas, telecoms and electricity. Innovative engineering solutions were designed and implemented which limited the impact on the environment and disruption to the local community. Upgrading a major arterial pipeline serving a sizable population while continuously maintaining the water supply during the project to Dublin City presented huge challenges. To that end, over the last few years, Uisce Éireann and Dublin City Council have been undertaking major upgrades to the water network across Dublin City which allowed us divert water around this critical trunk main and facilitate projects such as this while maintaining normal water services to homes and businesses. Uisce Éireann and Dublin City Council's joint collaborative effort was key to the successful delivery of this essential project."

Thanking the local community for their support, Declan added: "I would also like to thank our main contractors on this project, GMC Utilities Group Ltd., who helped us to successfully complete the project to the highest standards and provide a safe and sustainable water supply for these communities for generations to come. I would also like to thank the residents, businesses, commuters, elected representatives and everyone who shared and supported our vision and helped us to complete the project as safely and as efficiently as possible."

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daithí de Róiste, echoed the sentiments, saying, "This investment is critical to improving the local supply for 80,000 people across East Dublin City, and ensuring it is capable of meeting current and future demand, but will also enable much needed social and economic growth and development opportunities. Residents can now look forward to a more efficient delivery of water services and a more secure supply. Lastly, I would like to commend the teams from Uisce Éireann and Dublin City Council for their hard work and determination in completing this important project and helping to provide a better water supply for our City."

Dublin Chamber of Commerce's Aebhric Mc Gibney welcomed the improvements for local businesses, adding, "A reliable and secure water supply is an integral factor for local enterprise, particularly for our multinationals and hospitality sectors. As Dublin City continues to develop, local economic growth will be underpinned by the work already undertaken and by the work that continues to be delivered. It is important that the capital expenditure planned for Dublin City and the Greater Dublin Area continues to be implemented effectively to ensure the long-term delivery of a safe and sustainable water supply for our communities and businesses and we welcome the continued development of this key part of our infrastructure by Uisce Éireann."

This project was delivered under Uisce Eireann's national Leakage Reduction Programme and represents a further milestone in reaching our 2030 goal of a national leakage rate of 25%. The National Leakage Reduction team has made great strides since 2018 when the leakage rate stood at 46%. 

Since 2018, Uisce Éireann has invested more than €500 million to upgrade the underground water network across the country through the delivery of the national Leakage Reduction Programme. We are investing a further €250 million every year up to the end of 2030 - fixing leaks and replacing pipes to provide a more reliable water supply.

For more information, please visit our National Leakage Reduction Programme page.