Demand for water up by 20%

Frozen pipes and increased demand have severely disrupted water supplies across the county over the past week. While a thaw began early on Tuesday, services had not been restored to numerous housing estates and individual homes by Wednesday evening, with many areas likely to remain without water for the coming days.

“The situation is quite serious and we are attempting to rectify the problems people are experiencing. However, the water situation is critical and being exacerbated by increased demand caused by people leaving taps running to prevent their pipes freezing and leaks caused by burst pipes,” Seán Ward, senior engineer with Clare County Council, stated.
In the Ennis area, the worst affected places were the Kilrush Road and nearby estates, as well as parts of Clarecastle. The council have set up static standpipes in the Gort Road Industrial Estate, Cahercalla Estate, Kilrush Road, Tulla Road and in Clarecastle. Members of the public can obtain water from these pipes between 8.30am to 8pm daily.
The public water supply has been shut off in the Kilrush Road area of Ennis each night from 11pm to 6am and this will continue until further notice, according to the council.
In Shannon, water was turned off on Wednesday afternoon and this will again be the case on Thursday between midday and 5pm, before being shut off again between 8pm and 8am. Static standpipes are available at Bealach Bri near Shannon Garda Station from 12noon to 5pm, in Cluain Aileann, Ballycasey from 1pm to 5pm, at Skycourt Shopping Centre from 1pm to 5pm, Cratloe Cross from 1pm to 8pm and at Newmarket-on-Fergus Church from 2pm to 4pm.
In North Clare, water is available from a pipe at the council offices until 4pm daily.
Clare County Council has announced that there will be ongoing nightly restrictions in a number of areas for the coming days.
“Demand for water has increased by 20%. We are asking people to conserve water and to check for leaks in their homes and to be especially vigilant in any unoccupied properties.
“As temperatures rose in recent days, water that had frozen and burst pipes, thawed and began leaking. People should check their pipes to prevent damage to homes and excessive demand on water. We would also ask people to report any leaks in public areas to the council,” Mr Ward continued.
The local authority has set up a number of helplines to deal with the problems being experienced. The pipe leaks and bursts freephone number is 1850 287787 or 1850 BURSTS. This line is open from 9am to 5pm. From 5pm to 8pm, the water emergency number, 087 6377770, is in operation for calls on individual properties.
Further details are available from Clare County Council’s website, www.clarecoco.ie.