UISCE Éireann has been criticised for not following through with its vulnerable customer register after a burst water main in Ballinhassig on Sunday left hundreds of customers without a water supply.
BY JACKIE KEOGH AND KIERAN O’MAHONY
The ongoing water outages in the area were highlighted at this week’s meeting of Cork County Council by Cllr Gillian Coughlan (FF) who pointed out that this was the fifth water outage in just seven months.
‘This is a core piece of infrastructure and it needs to be replaced as it is continuously breaking,’ she said.
Cllr Coughlan said she was contacted by one farmer who had 100 cattle with no access to water, while the mum of an adult son who wears a colonoscopy bag had to buy water from a supermarket and then stay up all night and boil it in case he had an accident.
‘This is the real impact of these water outages and Uisce Éireann said vulnerable clients would be contacted but this woman heard nothing from them.’
‘This is really reprehensible especially as Uisce Éireann has committed to the vulnerable customer register but then didn’t follow it through.
According to Uisce Éireann vulnerable customers who have registered with Uisce Éireann receive direct communication for planned and unplanned outages lasting more than four hours.
Cllr Coughlan said the arrival of water tankers at O’Callaghan Fireplaces and Stoves at Goggins Hill on Monday was a ‘litte too late.’
A spokesperson for Uisce Éireann said customers in the areas of Ballyheada, Rigsdale, Tooreen, Half Way and Rising Sun were affected by the outage and that crews repaired the water main on Monday evening.
Meanwhile the persistent water outages at Union Hall have been described as ‘madness’ by local representatives at a meeting of the municipal district council.
Cllr Brendan McCarthy (FG) said: ‘If there are over 20 breaks in a calendar year, then something has to be done.’
He called for a new water main citing 40 breaks over the last five years, adding: ‘There were nine outages last month alone and there was no water again last week. It seems like absolute madness to me what is happening.’
The councillor acknowledged that a new water main was installed in recent years from the school in Union Hall out past the old creamery to Raheen and Reen Pier area.But he said the old main, going the other direction from the creamery, is still being used despite being completely unreliable.
Each break and repair costs thousands of euros.
‘Multiply this by the number of breaks there have been in recent weeks, months, and years, and you wouldn’t be far off the cost of installing a new water main,’ he suggested.
As the principal of the local primary school in Union Hall, Brendan McCarthy confirmed that they have been without water on numerous occasions this year alone.
‘It’s simply not good enough in this day and age,’ he concluded.
‘Sending a letter to Uisce Éireann, highlighting the issue from a municipal district meeting, is the least we can do. We are elected representatives of these people and they deserve much better than this.’
The Southern Star contacted Uisce Éireann for comment.
