Wicklow County Council saves 500,000 litres of water per day as leak found in Bray

Some 500,000 litres of water has been saved in Bray, following the detection of a major leak on Kilcroney Lane, with the daily savings equating to enough water to supply the entire population of Rathnew for one day.

Wicklow County Council water services staff, on behalf of Uisce Eireann, were able to identify the leak using specialist detection equipment and Joe Carroll, Infrastructure Delivery Programme Manager at Uisce Éireann, described the find as “one of the largest savings of our precious resource this year in County Wicklow”.

“It’s hard to understand that more than 500,000 litres of clean drinking water was disappearing underground every day,” he added. “Water is a valuable resource and expensive to produce, so finding this leak and successfully repairing it was of paramount importance.”

The innovative technology enabled crews to identify the section of watermain that was to be further investigated for potential bursts. Water pressure management technology was then installed on the watermain under Uisce Eireann’s national Leakage Reduction Programme.

Once installed this technology was used to assist in the find, trace and repair of the damaged section of pipe that was responsible for 500,000 litres of water being lost into the ground every day.

Noel Doody, Water Inspector at Wicklow County Council, also acknowledged the hard work of Wicklow County Council’s leak repair crews and thanked Uisce Eireann for funding the project.

“I am grateful to the residents of Kilcroney Lane, Bray, for their co-operation and understanding while we carried out these works. The use of modern leak detection and pressure management technology allowed us to accurately quantify the daily supply-demand balance for the area.

“Thanks to the support of Uisce Éireann, these works allowed us to pinpoint the leak, quantify the volume of water saved, and allowed us to continue to drive down leakage, conserve water, and reduce disruptions on the supply which will benefit customers in North County Wicklow and the environment as a whole.”

Securing the water supply in Wicklow remains a top priority and Uisce Éireann and Wicklow County Council are continuing with efforts to further drive down leakage to ensure that the area will have sufficient water supplies to meet the demands of customers into the future.

Uisce Éireann said identifying the leak in Bray will help it achieve its 2030 goal of a national leakage rate of 25 per cent – the national Leakage Reduction team has made great strides since 2018, when the leakage rate stood at 46 per cent.

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