Over 800,000 litres of water saved daily after leak repair works in Wexford

A massive 800,000 litres of water has been saved in Wexford every day following the detection of 70 major leaks across the county so far this year. 

The daily water savings are so significant that in the first half of this year alone that they would meet the daily demand of over 6,000 people. This is the equivalent of the combined daily use of the towns Courtown, Kilmuckridge, Oilgate and Kilmore Quay.

Dave Murphy Leakage Reduction Programme Manager with Uisce Éireann, described the finds as “Some of the largest savings of water in the country so far this year.” 

“It’s hard to comprehend that more than 800,000 litres of clean drinking water was disappearing underground every day”, he said. 

“Water is a valuable resource that is expensive to produce so finding these leaks and successfully repairing them will help secure a more reliable supply for the local communities” he concluded.

Uisce Éireann used specialised detection equipment called Acoustic Noise Loggers to identify the exact locations of the water loss on the underground public network. The state-of-the-art technology uses acoustic noise that is more sensitive than the human ear to listen for leaks. 

Speaking about the success of the repairs, Jim Fitzgerald Regional Operations manager with Uisce Éireann, said “As a result of this work by Uisce Éireann along with Shareridge and water service crews, customers are enjoying a more secure and reliable water supply. For our leak detection and repair teams to locate and repair these leaks is a massive success”. 

“Securing the water supply in Wexford remains a top priority for Uisce Éireann. Unearthing these leaks is a testament to the expertise and knowledge within our Find and Fix crews. We hope to continue to utilise this knowledge going forward in our daily search to locate and repair leaks to further improve quality of supply both in Wexford and across Ireland.”

Identifying and repairing these leaks will help Uisce Éireann achieve 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.