This article is from page 15 of the 2012-01-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
CLARE County Council estimates that it will take three or four months to replace lead water mains at three residential areas in Ennis.
Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that all lead pipe replacement works must be carried out in compliance with a European Union limits deadline of December 2013.
The Council is aiming to undertake work to replace lead piping at 82 houses in Ennis comprising 64 at Marian Avenue and 18 at Linnane’s Terrace (Carmody St), and Ahern’s Terrace (Kilrush Road).
The EPA served a direction on the Council to replace these lead mains by September.
In a detailed statement, Senior Engineer Sean Ward, explained that the “Council sought tenders for the works, and applied to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government (DECLG) for funding. Tenders have been received and studied, and a preferred tender has been identified”.
In December, the Department of Environment Heritage and Local Government announced that it had approved € 200,000 for lead pipe replacement in Ennis.
Mr Ward stated that there is no specific funding programme for replacement of lead pipes.
He continued, “The DECLG will allocate funds under this (Water Conservation) programme, but there is a major gap at present between this allocation and the amount of the preferred tender for the works.
“We are in discussions with the DECLG in an effort to close this gap so as to allow work to start. The work should take around three to four months to complete. The EPA’s directed date has passed, but we are keeping the EPA informed of the situation”.
Mr Ward explained that there are very few water mains for which the Council is responsible. However, he said there are “probably thousands of lead service pipes i.e pipes connected to the main and bring water into single premises in Clare including at least several hundred in Ennis”.
He added, “Clare County Council is responsible for the part of the serv- ice pipe from the point of connection to the main as far as the property boundary; the owner or occupier of the premises is responsible for the part from the property boundary into the premises”.
The Council has no programme for planned replacement of lead service pipes in Ennis, which it estimates would cost well over € 1 million
Mr Ward stated, “The Council will, commencing in mid 2012 approximately, be carrying out a major mains replacement project in Ennis under the national Water Conservation programme.
“If and when we encounter lead service pipes while doing this work, our policy will be to replace the service pipe with a plastic or other pipe,” Mr Ward stated.