35,000 customers in Mayo and Sligo to benefit from water upgrades

SITE investigation works for a major infrastructural project to benefit the communities of Ballina, Bonniconlon and Tubbercurry are underway, with public information evenings also organised for the community.

Some 35,000 Uisce Éireann customers will benefit from the Ballina and Lough Talt water supply upgrade project, which will deliver a more reliable water supply.

Ballina’s ageing water network will be upgraded, a new trunk main connecting Lisglennon to Ballina and onto Bonniconlon and Lough Talt laid, capacity increased for future growth in the region and the end of water abstraction from Lough Talt will restore natural lake levels and provide significant ecological benefits to local habitats and wildlife.

It’s an exciting project for the north Mayo/south Sligo region and the next step is site investigative works with crews from Irish Drilling Limited on site this month.

In the meantime, Uisce Éireann has organised elected representative briefings and public information evenings to update locals on the project.

A drop in public information event will be held in Bonniconlon Community Centre on Monday, March 3, from 6 to 9 p.m. Two days later on Wednesday, March 5, a drop in information event will be held in Killala Community Centre from 6 to 9 p.m. Briefings have also been organised for elected representatives.

Uisce Éireann’s John McElwaine explained that a team will be in attendance on both evenings to outline the proposed project to locals.

Meanwhile, he assured locals that the investigative works which are expected to be complete this summer will be limited to short sections to minimise impact on customers.

“The Ballina and Lough Talt water supply upgrade project is a significant investment for the region and investigative works are necessary to progress the project to the next stage. Traffic management will be in place in the benefitting communities in the coming months, but crews will make every effort to minimise disruption and local and emergency traffic will be maintained at all times,” he said.

“Our long-term plans to upgrade the existing infrastructure and network will deliver a reliable water supply for generations to come.”