Irish Water warned cheap meter boxes will burst under the weight of heavy vehicles

WATER meter boxes should be carefully chosen or else they will ‘burst’ under the weight of heavy vehicles, according to the head of research at the National Federation of Group Water Schemes.

Two weeks ago the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed that the plastic water meter boxes being installed by Irish Water are not strong enough to hold the weight of a car, and last week we reported that the Department of Environment’s own guidelines recommend using a stronger box on pavements.

Despite this, Irish Water is installing thousands of lower grade water meter boxes in front of driveways and other areas where vehicles will drive.

Brian MacDonald, research and evaluation officer at the NFGWS, has revealed that this very issue was a ‘steep learning curve’ for the organisation. ‘It is very important that the proper hardware is used in relation to water meter boxes,’ he said. ‘The choice of meter box is crucial and the choice of meter box lid is also crucial, depending on where it is being installed. If it’s on a footpath, it doesn’t need to be as robust, but you can’t use the same one on the road or in driveways.’

The NFGWS is an organisation that represents almost 2,000 private water meter groups around the country.

‘We’ve had instances in schemes where they’ve had to be taken out, entire boxes taken out, because they broke,’ added Mr MacDonald.

‘It is important that you use the correct grade, because you will be replacing it in a few years otherwise,’ he said. ‘We’re always available to provide information to Irish Water or anyone else on that.’

When asked if he felt Irish Water was using the wrong grade of boxes in front of driveways, Mr MacDonald replied: ‘I’m not going to comment on that but I’ll let you reach your own logical conclusions.

‘The placing of the meter is so important. If you have heavy vehicles driving over the meter, it will burst.’