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Galway County Council Water Conservation Unit

Project Update (November 2011)

3,621 leaks detected (Public and private). 3123 repaired.
Mains rehabilitation works approved for Oranmore, Athenry, Headford and Ballinasloe Town. Site investigation works have been carried out. Pipelaying expected to commence in Q2 of 2012.
Awaiting approval of additional mains rehabilitation works in Spiddal, Carraroe, Inishmore and Loughrea. Pipelaying expected to commence in Q3 of 2012.
Due to impending roadworks, approval for advance pipelaying has been approved in Loughrea (Abbey Street) and Ballinasloe (Dublin Road)

Water Conservation Project (General)

Galway County Council Water Conservation Project was rolled out across the county in 2005. There is currently one dedicated Project Engineer, 2 Technicians, 4 Leak Detectors and 2 Leak Repair personnel working full time on the project. To date a total of 3,621 leaks (includes both public and private leaks) have been detected of which 90% have been repaired. The project is run from a central water conservation office set up at Luimnagh Water Treatment Works. The project consists of 3 phases:

Phase 1

Phase 1 involved installing bulk flow meters, loggers, valves and pressure control devices on priority water supply schemes in the county. The first phase of a state-of-the-art telemetry system has also been installed, which to date captures and stores information from over a hundred key flowmeters throughout the county.

The works carried out enable the priority water supply schemes to be split into manageable areas (called District Meter Areas or DMAs) such that all flows into these areas can be measured. This allows the areas of highest leakage to be easily identified such that leak detection works can be carried out in the areas of most benefit. A leak detection team has been established in the County Council, who’s role it is to systematically detect leaks in these areas. Once detected, leaks on public water mains are repaired by the County Council.

Phase 1 also entailed carrying out a demand management study to inform the public of the importance of water conservation. Part of this study involved carrying out a pilot study on a local school to reduce its daily water demand.

Phase 2

Phase 2 of the project commenced in 2008 and involves completing installation of bulk flow meters, loggers and valves on all DMAs throughout the county. The telemetry system will also be completed for the entire county, which will see data from over two hundred flow meters being captured on a daily basis and automatically relayed to the central water conservation team.

Under Phase 2 of the project, an additional two leak detection teams will be employed by Galway County Council, and the main emphasis during Phase 2 will be on finding and repairing a large number of leaks.

Phase 3

Sometimes, it is found that leaks regularly re-occur on certain sections of the watermain network (in particular on older pipework). In the long term it is sometimes more cost-effective to replace a section of main rather than repeatedly repair leaks on it. Phase 3 of the project will involve the identification and replacement of these mains throughout the County. To date (November 2011)funding has been approved for mains rehabilitation works to be carried out in the following public water supply schemes. Oranmore, Ballinasloe Town, Headford and Athenry. The Dept is currently considering funding for an additional 4 schemes, namely, Inishmor, Carraroe, Spiddal and Loughrea.