BLAME THE ALGAE FOR OUR WATER SHORTAGES
NO SOLUTION IN SIGHT FOR THOUSANDS OF HOMES
THOUSANDS of homes across North Wicklow are being hit by water stoppages, low pressure and in some cases no water at all, with no solid indication yet as to when the problems will end.
Michael Geaney, Senior Engineer with Wicklow County Council, explained at this week’s council meeting that the problems are as a result of seasonal impacts of algae at the Vartry Resevoir.
He said water in Enniskerry has been turned off every night since Saturday, and on Monday night, water was turned off in Greystones from 8 p.m. until 6.30 a.m. on Tuesday. This practice will continue until the problem is resolved.
Mr. Geaney said the problem with the algae arose last year too, ' but this year it's looking worse'.
Cllr. John Ryan said some people in the county have been without water for five or six days while others are experiencing problems with their pressure. He said the problem in Wicklow was only resolved last year when Dublin was hit with water shortages.
Cllr. Chris Fox said the water shortages come at a time when the country's water supply is being taken over by Irish Water and said customers hadn't been alerted to the problems and only realised there was a problem when the water had been cut off.
from front Cllr. John Brady said he was aware of people who were without water since last Thursday and said it's impacting hugely on homes and businesses in North Wicklow.
' This didn't happen overnight', he said. ' Why weren't people notified? I've been told that there's no impact on water levels in Dublin.'
Cllr. Pat Casey said the council had been told last year that the problem occurred because of the cold weather but said that's not the case at the moment.
' This can't keep happening, if Dublin was affected this would be solved.'
The members were told that Irish Water and Wicklow County Council are working together to resolve the problem but Mr. Geaney couldn't give any guarantees as to when water would be restored. He said, however, that he would endeavour ' to manage the situation' by Friday of last week.