Water rationing for tens of thousands as burst pipes hit supply
WATER rationing is being applied to tens of thousands of homes, amid fears burst pipes will use up reserves in the coming days.
Already more than 120,000 households have restricted supply due to low levels in reservoirs, while 10,500 homes have no water at all.
Three major bursts in Dublin alone wasted the equivalent of the daily water usage of Balbriggan, which has a population of more than 20,000 people.
Irish Water has warned that some customers will suffer “severe impacts from water interruption or restrictions”.
The utility’s chief executive, Jerry Grant, said crews were working “flat out” but many of their issues will only become apparent once the thaw is complete.
“There will be issues for many days,” he said.
Those without water include 5,200 properties in the Edenvale and Creagh areas of Wexford; 3,000 in Cork; 240 in Kerry; 1,700 in Swan, Co Laois; and 250 in Springmount, Co Tipperary.
Widespread restrictions are also being enforced across the country, with Galway, Leitrim, Longford, Meath, Westmeath and Donegal worst hit.
Just over 3,000 people are on storm-related boil-water notices. The majority of those affected are in Wicklow and Waterford.
The situation in Dublin is being closely monitored, with Mr Grant saying there is the potential for supplies to be cut off at night.
The Greater Dublin Area saw an increase of more than 10pc in demand from Friday to Sunday.
“Despite having our plants working at peak output, storage was significantly depleted,” Irish Water said in a statement last night.
Major bursts in the North Docklands, Infirmary Road and Skerries were fixed yesterday. In Donegal, repairs by county council staff mean that the 46,000 people who were on water restrictions now have normal service restored.
Irish Water is appealing to anyone with an outside tap to ensure that it is securely turned off.
A constant flow from an external tap over 24 hours is the equivalent of the usage of 50 households in the same period.
Any businesses who may have kept taps running during the period of the storm are requested to turn them off as a matter of urgency.
Members of the public are being asked to report loss of service or visible leaks to assist Irish Water to identify bursts.
ESB has successfully restored power to tens of thousands of homes in recent days.
Last night the focus was on 6,000 customers in Wexford who were still without electricity. ESB was getting assistance from the Defence Forces, Civil Defence and local authorities to access the fault locations.
Conor Healy, of ESB, said that it has deployed “as much heavy machinery as we can”.