Connections

Irish Water: Allanah

Irish Water, the national water utility, has responsibility for the delivery of water and wastewater services to homes and businesses across the Republic of Ireland, including the provision of water service connections to new developments. Since taking over this responsibility in January 2014, Irish Water has been improving the delivery of services to customers. 

Connections and Developer Services (CDS), a department within Irish Water’s Asset Management function, has responsibility for the provision of water services connections to new developments. CDS is rolling out a transformation project, to better streamline the services that it provides to customers. This transformation project is well underway and comprises the following: 

1. The establishment of a pre-connection enquiry system, which allows developers who are considering the advancement of a development to establish from Irish Water if water services can be provided from its networks to the site. This is a free service and results in the provision of a confirmation of feasibility (COF) indicating what service can be provided by Irish Water at that time. This COF can be submitted with planning applications to show that engagement has taken place with IW. PCE forms are available on the Irish Water website here.

2. The roll out of an Irish Water connections application process, and accompanying guidance. Irish Water is now the single point of contact for customers seeking new water and/or wastewater connection for new developments. Connection applications for new water and/or water service connections can be made directly to Irish Water via the Irish Water website www.water.ie/connections/.

3. The publication of Irish Water technical documents, comprising Standard Details and Codes of Practice. These technical documents outline Irish Water’s requirements for the provision of water and wastewater infrastructure in new developments where this is being provided by the developer by way of a self-lay approach. These technical documents are available on the Irish Water website here.

4. The application of new quality assurance (QA) measures for self-lay infrastructure that is to be adopted and the adoption/vesting of these assets upon connection (water and waste water infrastructure within new housing developments). The quality assurance measures are enabled by a self lay connection agreement. The quality assurance is undertaken by Irish Water engaging with developers and inspecting the water and wastewater infrastructure at an early stage before its connection to the Irish Water networks.

5. The mobilisation of dedicated regional contractors (RCs) to complete the connection of new infrastructure to the Irish Water networks using standardised processes and systems. The regional contractors operate where Local Authorities Water Services staff do not or are not available to provide connection work themselves but require customers to undertake the physical connection works. Currently CDS regional contractors are being mobilised in various Local Authority areas and this process will continue through 2018.

To date, the first three deliverables have been completed and the remaining two deliverables are well underway. 

Connection Charging Policy

Irish Water is working with the Commission for Regulations of Utilities (CRU) in putting in place an enduring national Connection Charging Policy (CCP). It is intended that the CCP will replace the current practice of applying 57 different charging regimes, requiring about 900 variations in calculating connection charges. The CRU held a 10 week public consultation in early 2018 which commenced in early January and concluded on March 23rd. The CRU is currently considering the feedback received from this public consultation and will announce its decision in due course.

Diversions, Alterations and Building Over 

Under Section 45 of the Water Services Act it is an offence to interfere with and/or cause damage to Irish Water’s networks. Approval is required in accordance with Section 98 of the Water Services Act to alter or divert networks. Section 104 of the Water Services Act prohibits building over water services infrastructure without the appropriate approval of Irish Water. Connection and Development Services (CDS) should be contacted if a developer/customer wishes to divert, build over or near our existing water services infrastructure.

Diversions may be required if a water main or sewer in the ownership of Irish Water traverse a development site and its diversion is required to facilitate construction. A diversion application should be made to Irish Water if the relocation of such infrastructure is required. CDS will contact the developer/customer regarding the application and if acceptable offer a diversion agreement. To find out more please visit www.water.ie/connections

s00bf06e

Hi, We are nearing the end of construction of a new once off house. We have not yet applied for a connection as I was told to hold off until the new charges come in. Has there been any update or indication from the commission as to when these will be finalised?  If I apply in the meantime will I be charged at the current rates? and if the new charges were to be put in place before I got my physical connection would I be charged at the new rate?
Would you recommend I go ahead and apply if I intend to be in the house in the next 2-3 months? What is the typical time from application to connection (we are in Wexford).

Thanks in advance for your help

Irish Water: Allanah

Hu s00bf06e,

Thanks for getting in touch.

We are currently liaising with the relevant department in relation to your query and will contact you as soon as we have an update.

Thank you for your patience,
Allanah

Irish Water: Micheal

Irish Water: Allanah wrote: »

Hu s00bf06e,

Thanks for getting in touch.

We are currently liaising with the relevant department in relation to your query and will contact you as soon as we have an update.

Thank you for your patience,
Allanah

Hi there,

We have received an update from our Connections Department in relation to your query.

In January, 2018, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) launched a 10 week consultation on a national Connection Charging Policy proposed by Irish Water (IW) which is now closed. Full details on the consultation including proposals are on the CRU website. The CRU public consultation closed on the 23rd of March, the feedback is currently being considers post the consultation, it is expected the CRU will make a decision on the policy and changes later in 2018 including any transitional arrangements.

Until the IW proposal has been approved by the CRU, IW charges customers in accordance with the CRU approved Water Charges Plan. Sections 21 and 22 of the Water Services Act (No. 2) 2013 sets out that Irish Water shall charge customers as calculated in accordance with the approved Water Charges Plan. The current Water Charges Plan states (at Section 6) that in relation to new connections, Irish Water charges an amount "equivalent to the water and Wastewater related development levies which the Local Authorities were formerly entitled to charge".

We cannot speculate on what costs the CRU will decide on. Timelines in each local authority area differ depending on the demand for new connections. Therefore if you are hoping to move in to your new property in the next 2-3 months; it would be advisable to apply for your new connection straight away. An application can be made online at www.water.ie.

I hope you find this information helpful. Please let us know if you have any further questions.

Kind regards,
Micheal

Dlkm5

Looking for information on when I will be offered terms for a water connection in co. Louth. I applied nearly 3 months ago and got an email confirmation, since then nothing.I rang last week for an update and was told it was with the ‘field engineer’. This appears to be a stock answer and tells me nothing.

If you know the location of the water main ( <10metres) and where the meter needs to go, surely this is very straight forward.

Does the ‘field enginer’ have a work schedule and if he does where am I on his list, it is not acceptable that,the customer care pleads ignorance on what stage my application is or when terms for supply will be issued.

Could you also tell me, how it is costed and who does what.? Who installs the pipe to the meter from the main, who applies for the road opening license etc.


Looking forward to your reply

Irish Water: Micheal

Dlkm5 wrote: »

Looking for information on when I will be offered terms for a water connection in co. Louth. I applied nearly 3 months ago and got an email confirmation, since then nothing.I rang last week for an update and was told it was with the ‘field engineer’. This appears to be a stock answer and tells me nothing.

If you know the location of the water main ( <10metres) and where the meter needs to go, surely this is very straight forward.

Does the ‘field enginer’ have a work schedule and if he does where am I on his list, it is not acceptable that,the customer care pleads ignorance on what stage my application is or when terms for supply will be issued.

Could you also tell me, how it is costed and who does what.? Who installs the pipe to the meter from the main, who applies for the road opening license etc.


Looking forward to your reply

Hi there,

We're sorry to read this. 

Please PM us the following details and we will be more than happy to assist

- Name
- Address of proposed connection
- Contact number 
- Application date

Kind regards,
Micheal

Dlkm5

[snipped]

Irish Water: Mairead

Hi DLKM5,

Would you mind re-sending these details by private message?

We also recommend you delete your previous post, as this information is unique to you.

Thanks,
Mairead

Dlkm5

Mairead, I PM you the details which I previously put up. Can you also reply to general questions I asked re schedule and who does what.

Thanks

Irish Water: Micheal

Dlkm5 wrote: »

Mairead, I PM you the details which I previously put up. Can you also reply to general questions I asked re schedule and who does what.

Thanks

Hi there,

Thanks for your message.

We have received your PM and a member of our team will respond to you very shortly.

Kind regards,
Micheal

dinamit875

Hi. I have a question about water connection to private house within an estate. That house is on sale and we are interested in it, but nobody was living in that property and its not finished inside, so I don't know was it ever connected to water supply, because an estate agent doesn't tell much and I don't want to employ an engineer yet. Would you be able to help me with this question? I will be able to give you property's address if you PM me back, please. Thank you very much.

Irish Water: Allanah

Hi dinamit,

Thanks for your query.

dinamit875 wrote: »

Hi. I have a question about water connection to private house within an estate. That house is on sale and we are interested in it, but nobody was living in that property and its not finished inside, so I don't know was it ever connected to water supply, because an estate agent doesn't tell much and I don't want to employ an engineer yet. Would you be able to help me with this question? I will be able to give you property's address if you PM me back, please. Thank you very much.

As you are third party and have no affiliation with the property yet, we would not be able to say if there is a connection supply at the address in question, due to data protection reasons.

We would recommend that you contact the developer or the seller or alternatively, if you fill in a pre-enquiry form on our website here, you can check for feasibility.

We hope this helps, please feel free to get in touch again with any future queries.

Thanks,
Allanah

Dlkm5

Hi,

Nobody has contacted me re my connection query. I sent a PM over a week ago but am still waiting for somebody to contact me. It’s 3 months now since I applied for a connection and have got nowhere. Surely somebody in there can answer my general queries as well. Not a great service.

Simbima

Hi my property is currently running off a shared connection which is lead piping underneath all the properties in the terrace. The house is in Dublin and was built around 1900. My neighbor says a few years ago IW upgraded the ring main to the rear of the terraces and supplied connections to the next row of terraces in our street but didn't supply connections to our row of terraces. I'm currently getting some building work done to the back of my property and would like to take the opportunity of connecting to the ring main (and have lead free water) which is about 3m form my rear boundary wall, what is the feasibility of this work being carried out as I would like to place th pipework in the ground to connect to the IW ring main when possible.

Irish Water: Amy

Hi Simbima,

Thanks for getting in touch.

You can find out more on how to apply for a New Connection here.

Kind regards,
Amy

Simbima

Irish Water: Amy wrote: »

Hi Simbima,

Thanks for getting in touch.

You can find out more on how to apply for a New Connection here.

Kind regards,
Amy

Cheers Amy,

Following a connection application, when would I expect a response on the feasibility of the connection?

Irish Water: Amy

Hi Simbima,

Apologies for my miscommunication - The below details from our website are more relevant to your query.

"If your home was built before 1980, then you should check your plumbing for lead. If there is lead then you should replace the plumbing, and the Government has a grant scheme that you may qualify for. There is a process for replacing the public side of the lead service connection following that, please follow that process using our Lead Pipe Scheme Application Form rather than apply for a connection."

In terms of a time-frame, the relevant ream will process your form and contact you in due course.

I hope this helps.

Thanks,
Amy

samfernance

We are looking at buying a house in Lissymulgee, Carracastle, Co Mayo.
The property currently has a private well, however we would prefer a mains water connection.
Do you have services available in this area?
Thank you for your assistance

Irish Water: Niamh

Hi samfernance,

samfernance wrote: »

We are looking at buying a house in Lissymulgee, Carracastle, Co Mayo.
The property currently has a private well, however we would prefer a mains water connection.
Do you have services available in this area?
Thank you for your assistance

Thank you for contacting us.

For more information on our new connections process, please see here.

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,
Niamh

dcoyle277

Hi,

I applied for and was offered a new connection, I have paid connection fee and returned forms, but have recieved no contact since and am beginning to wonder if I ever will? Paid connection nearly 3 months ago!

Irish Water: Niamh

Hi dcoyle277,

dcoyle277 wrote: »

Hi,

I applied for and was offered a new connection, I have paid connection fee and returned forms, but have recieved no contact since and am beginning to wonder if I ever will? Paid connection nearly 3 months ago!

Sorry to hear that you have been experiencing this.

Please PM us the following information:

- Your full name;
- The address for the new connection; and
- Contact number.

Once we have received these details, a member of our team will investigate this for you.

Kind regards,
Niamh

hijklmnop

Hi Irishwater,

I applied for a new connection on Aug 24th and have heard nothing back.

Can you let me know when we might hear back from you guys?

Our builders are asking about what pipes will need to be put in.

Thanks,

Des

Irish Water: Niamh

Hi hijklmnop,

hijklmnop wrote: »

Hi Irishwater,

I applied for a new connection on Aug 24th and have heard nothing back.

Can you let me know when we might hear back from you guys?

Our builders are asking about what pipes will need to be put in.

Thanks,

Des

Thank you for getting in touch with us.

Please send us a PM with your full name, address, contact number and reference number, and a member of our team will look into this for you.

Thanks,
Niamh

grasserman123

HI-I've applied to Irish water for a connection & still have heard nothing-can this be followed up on please

Irish Water: Allanah

Hi grasserman123,

Apologies for the delay in responding.

grasserman123 wrote: »

HI-I've applied to Irish water for a connection & still have heard nothing-can this be followed up on please

A member of our team has been in touch with you via DM.

Thanks,
Allanah

DrPhilG

Hi Irish Water

I live in a rural area served by a well. We're on top of a hill and the mains connection doesn't reach us.

There is a group scheme down the hill but when it was formed there were only a handful of houses at the top and not enough were interested in joining!

15 years later there are a lot of houses at the top, and many like ourselves are struggling with poor water quality and worn out household appliances, showers, toilets etc due to extremely high iron content despite expensive filtration.

One of the neighbours heard rumour that Irish Water were talking about extending their supply to reach new premises due to the increase in demand.

Would you be able to check? Any information would be great. I look forward to the day I can have a bath without it looking like I filled it directly from my bladder...

Irish Water: Niamh

Hi DrPhilG,

DrPhilG wrote: »

Hi Irish Water

I live in a rural area served by a well. We're on top of a hill and the mains connection doesn't reach us.

There is a group scheme down the hill but when it was formed there were only a handful of houses at the top and not enough were interested in joining!

15 years later there are a lot of houses at the top, and many like ourselves are struggling with poor water quality and worn out household appliances, showers, toilets etc due to extremely high iron content despite expensive filtration.

One of the neighbours heard rumour that Irish Water were talking about extending their supply to reach new premises due to the increase in demand.

Would you be able to check? Any information would be great. I look forward to the day I can have a bath without it looking like I filled it directly from my bladder...

Thanks for getting in touch.

We would advise you to submit a Pre-connection Enquiry form on our website which can assess the feasibility of a connection for your property.

Please see https://www.water.ie/connections/information/ for more information about how to get connected.

Kind regards,
Niamh

DrPhilG

Irish Water: Niamh wrote: »

We would advise you to submit a Pre-connection Enquiry form on our website which can assess the feasibility of a connection for your property.

Please see https://www.water.ie/connections/information/ for more information about how to get connected.

Kind regards,
Niamh

Thanks Niamh but that's not really what I'm getting at. My house is over a mile from the nearest mains connection, and at the top of a hill. I already know that I cannot currently get connected.

I have heard however that there are plans to extend the current mains connection area and I was wondering if you could confirm or deny that.

Irish Water: Niamh

Hi DrPhilG,

DrPhilG wrote: »

Irish Water: Niamh wrote: »

We would advise you to submit a Pre-connection Enquiry form on our website which can assess the feasibility of a connection for your property.

Please see https://www.water.ie/connections/information/ for more information about how to get connected.

Kind regards,
Niamh

Thanks Niamh but that's not really what I'm getting at. My house is over a mile from the nearest mains connection, and at the top of a hill. I already know that I cannot currently get connected.

I have heard however that there are plans to extend the current mains connection area and I was wondering if you could confirm or deny that.

Please send a PM with the following information and a member of our team will look into this for you.

- Your Full Name;
- Your Full address; and
- Contact number.

Thanks,
Niamh

maireadf

Hi ,
We applied in November for our water connection, we paid the €6500 .
We waited , so my husband rang and they said we didn’t have to do anything else and they’d be in touch .
We waited for another month , we rang to be told we were misinformed and we had to contact the county council and obtain lisences and subcontractors .. this was going to cost another €4000 at least . So we had to cancel that application and reapply under the new scheme , I said to hold onto the money , all the field engineer stuff had been done and just put it off the new bill.
We are now a month later, they rang to say that now they can’t keep the money and have to reimburse and re bill and repay again !
And guess what , it’s still on the field engineers desk ! We are waiting to move in , so stressful as the architect can’t issue certs Til the water is switched on so the builder won’t get paid !

Irish Water: Allanah

Hi maireadf,

Thanks for your message.

maireadf wrote: »

Hi ,
We applied in November for our water connection, we paid the €6500 .
We waited , so my husband rang and they said we didn’t have to do anything else and they’d be in touch .
We waited for another month , we rang to be told we were misinformed and we had to contact the county council and obtain lisences and subcontractors .. this was going to cost another €4000  at least . So we had to cancel that application and reapply under the new scheme , I said to hold onto the money , all the field engineer stuff had been done and just put it off the new bill.
We are now a month later, they rang to say that now they can’t keep the money and have to reimburse and re bill and repay  again !
And guess what , it’s still on the field engineers desk ! We are waiting to move in , so stressful as the architect can’t issue certs Til the water is switched on so the builder won’t get paid !

would you mind sending the below details via PM and we can look into this for you:

- Name;
- Address;
- Contact number;
- Application reference number; and
- And additional details in relation to the application.

Thanks in advance,
Allanah

DrPhilG

Allanah it's been nearly 6 weeks since I asked and not only do I not have an answer, now my PMs are being ignored too.

Bad form.

Irish Water: Mairead

Hi DrPhilG,

DrPhilG wrote: »

Allanah it's been nearly 6 weeks since I asked and not only do I not have an answer, now my PMs are being ignored too.

Bad form.

We're very sorry to hear this and would like to assure you that we are following up on this matter for you.

A member of our team will be in touch via PM as soon as possible with an update.

Kind regards,
Mairead

Xon

Heads up to people seeking new connections and particularly self-builders

+1 this post if you feel the same

My experience is that the Irish Water guidance, documentation, and videos around the connection process are inaccurate, insufficient and ambiguous.

Reading the documentation will leave a customer with one vision of what will happen but the reality is entirely different.

So take a very simple scenario;
 - A new build house on a corner site of an existing housing estate;
 - With a water main already located in the footpath outside the new house;
 - You have completed works within and up to your boundary and have a pipe ready to connect to the mains located beside your boundary.
 - You paid your Irish Water fee which includes a "Works Fee" and an "Infrastructure Fee"

You may be under the impression (based on Irish Water guidance) that once you have completed the application process and paid your fee that Irish Water together with their agents will work to connect you to the water supply.

WRONG!!!

- You must now obtain a road opening licence!;
- Not so bad?  - You can't get one of these unless you have insurance in place and have completed 3 days of mandatory training;
- You probably already have the insurance given that you are building a house;
- Either way the training and licence will cost you €1,000 if you do it yourself;
- So you must now employ an insured contractor do dig a hole in the path for you €€€
- Irish water will then show up and plug in a meter in 10 minutes!! 

Value for money eh!

So how did I get it all so wrong???

Well......


Watch the Irish Water video, linked below, for a laugh..


https://www.water.ie/connections/information/

"We will design and make the connection" they say and look at the graphic that goes with it    

Confusing? Misleading?


Check out the "Connection Assets and Responsibilities" on page 9 of the "Guide to Connect"

https://www.water.ie/connections/new-connections/domestic/8-10.10.16-Guide-to-connect_Domestic-02_NT-changes.pdf

Check out the diagrams - customer responsible for everything up to 225mm outside your boundary it seems!? - That's not all!! (there's more )

Confusing? Misleading?


Check out Section 5 of Irish Water's "Guide to Connect"

5".1 Physical connection Having received the acceptance requirements and processed your payment, Irish Water will contact you to agree a mutually suitable time for the provision of the physical connection...." 


Not really true!!  


Yes, Irish water's service description and contract documentation is nothing short of misleading at best, 
and yes Mr/Mrs customer and tax payer, you will pick up an extra bill €€ for it, 
and you will pay your planning permission fees, 
and you will engage a private contractor to dig a hole in the road, 
and you will pay for a licence to dig that whole in the road, a
nd you will pay for Irish water to contract the Local Authority to come and have a look into that hole in the road 
and then if you are really lucky this good State of ours through its Semi-state bodies and agents might just well connect that little water pie to that big water pipe, 
and you will rejoice :)

Mickiemcfist

Hi, I'm looking at buying a house which had its water disconnected as it is a receiver sale, would there be a full connection charge or what would it cost to connect back?

Thanks

Irish Water: Niamh

Hi Mickiemcfist,

Mickiemcfist wrote: »

Hi, I'm looking at buying a house  which had its water disconnected as it is a receiver sale, would there be a full connection charge or what would it cost to connect back?

Thanks

We would recommend that you call our New Connections Department on 1850 278 278 and a member of the team will be able to help. Our New Connections department is open between 9am-5:30pm from Monday to Friday.

Kind regards,
Niamh

Old Gill

Hi, we are looking to extend our terraced house to the rear but would first need to divert the drain in order to get planning permission.

Can you please give an idea of the fixed costs Irish water will charge for this in addition to the fee charged by our builder? I read Irish Water need to supervise the work but there's no mention of costs involved.

Thanks

Irish Water: Mairead

Hi Old Gill,

Old Gill wrote: »

Hi, we are looking to extend our terraced house to the rear but would first need to divert the drain in order to get planning permission.

Can you please give an idea of the fixed costs Irish water will charge for this in addition to the fee charged by our builder? I read Irish Water need to supervise the work but there's no mention of costs involved.

Thanks

Thanks for getting in touch.

You can see more on our connection charges here, however cost is determined on a case by case basis.

You can see more on our connections process on our website.

Thanks,
Mairead

chippey

Hi, 

We are in the process of building a house in a private estate. We were sold the site as fully serviced and there is a manhole on our site for sewer connection and a pipe I assume leads to the watermain in the road. As these connections were carried out when the site was initially developed 20+ years ago and under local county council control (prior to Irish water) is there anything we need to do with Irish Water right now. No water meters have been installed in any of the other houses in the estate but will we need to install a meter? The connection to the sewer system seems to be fine and I can only assume as it is connected there is no need to apply for a connection. 

Thanks for any help in this matter.

Irish Water: Agata

Hi chippey,

Thanks for your query.:)

We are currently looking into this for you, once we receive more information on this, we will be in touch.

In the meantime, thank you for your patience.

Thanks,
Agata

Irish Water: Mairead

Hi Chippey,

chippey wrote: »

Hi, 

We are in the process of building a house in a private estate. We were sold the site as fully serviced and there is a manhole on our site for sewer connection and a pipe I assume leads to the watermain in the road. As these connections were carried out when the site was initially developed 20+ years ago and under local county council control (prior to Irish water) is there anything we need to do with Irish Water right now. No water meters have been installed in any of the other houses in the estate but will we need to install a meter? The connection to the sewer system seems to be fine and I can only assume as it is connected there is no need to apply for a connection.

Thanks for any help in this matter.

We have received an update and we recommend you send your query to operations@water.ie or call us on 1850 278 278 and a member of the team can assist you further.

Thanks,
Mairead

DesperateDan

Hi folks,

I want to get our house connected which is probably around 300m from the nearest mains connection but we need a ballpark figure first. It was always on a well and is probably nearly 100 years old. 

Trying to fill out the pre-connection enquiry form and you need a location map and a layout map and "invert level of connection supplies". Where does one get these maps you want and what is an "invert level of connection point" and how do I get that please

Irish Water: Daniel V

Hi Dan,

Thank you for getting in touch.

You can get ordinance survey maps from your Local Authority.

I'm currently following up on the rest of your query with our New Connections Team and as soon as I have further information for you I will be in touch.

Thanks,
Daniel

Irish Water: Daniel V

Hi Dan,

I have received an update from our New Connections Team in relation to your query. They have advised to contact the Planning Department of your Local Authority and they will be able to provide the information requested.

Thanks,
Daniel

Vodkat

Hi, I paid my connection fee and sent back the form but haven't heard anything since.

Irish Water: Agata

Vodkat wrote: »

Hi, I paid my connection fee and sent back the form but haven't heard anything since.

Hi Vodkat,

Thanks for getting in touch and we're sorry to hear this.

Would you mind sending us a PM with the following details:

- Name;
- Address;
- Contact number; and
- New connection reference number

Thanks,
Agata

helen87

Hi,

I am looking to get a water connection for a new build that is not started yet but cannot commence without being approved for connection. my question is when i am going through the online application it asks for two maps to be provided, do these have to be official land registry maps? or can i use maps used by the engineer for planning. Also when marking the spots where the connection should be, can i do this or does the engineer need to do this? 

gerryg80

Hi,

Id like to try and get a water connection onto a site,  main purpose is to provide water for agriculture. There is mains connection on the road on which the site is located. Can you provide direction as to where I can apply for this, most of the application processes seem "domestic" related. Any advise appreciated.

pynchy

Well this thread shows what a nightmare this can be. Look slike communication and feedback from IW isn't great.