COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, September 09, 2019

QUESTION NO. 24

QUESTION: Councillor K. Mahon

Can the Chief Executive please report on the current rate of leakage/retention of water in South Dublin County Council infrastructure?

REPLY:

The current leakage rate in South Dublin County Council is 36.6%.  This figure is based on figures from Irish Water of domestic consumption which is estimated from the available domestic meters that have been fitted since 2014, and commercial metered usage. 

Irish Water have commenced the roll out of an automated Leakage Management System, which is currently being data inputted with network details including meter information from the 162 district metered areas in SDCC.  New meters are being installed and some replaced where needed.  When this work is further progressed it is expected the overall leakage figure will be able to be broken down more accurately, and will be able to account for leakage from the public mains, private side leakage, and unaccounted water which currently includes commercial properties with faulty meters or unmetered.  Hence the 36.6% figure given of current leakage should be taken as a maximum which includes leaks from the public network, private side leaks, and unaccounted for water.

South Dublin County Council is working with Irish Water and the other Dublin Local Authorities on the Dublin Regional Leakage Reduction Project.  This project, which commenced in SDCC in mid 2018, has several strands and is achieving notable leakage reductions in 2019 - Q2 details:

1 - Network repairs and maintenance - SDCC carries out leakage detection and repair work continuously throughout the network as part of an operational leakage management programme.  SDCC Water Section has carried out 156 network repairs this year to end July, which includes burst main repairs and repairs to leaking valves and hydrants.

2 - Find and Fix - 21ML reduction regionally.  Irish Water have provided extra resources including extra staff and contractor to increase and concentrate efforts on finding and fixing leaks in up to 5 of our district metered areas with the highest leakage in SDCC.  

3 - First Fix private side repairs - Saved 2.5ML and carried out 676 repairs in Dublin.

4 - Mains renewal - Rehabilitated or renewed 11.77km of main in Dublin.

5 - Meters - Replaced or fitted 739 network or commercial meters in Dublin.

6 - Pressure Management - 10 optimized and 3 new pressure reducing valves.

7 - Lead services - 4,321 removed.

Irish Water have a water conservation campaign actively running on media channels during the summer.