Water dries up after big freeze

Extensive disruptions to Clare’s water services are likely to continue into the New Year as a result of leakages and burst mains since the thaw has set in after the cold snap.

Clare County Council on Wednesday confirmed that demand for water is now exceeding capacity on most water supplies in the county resulting in scheduled water shut-offs in many locations.
Hotels in Ennis came to the assistance of people left without water over the Christmas, by offering knockdown room rates, as well as allowing people to use rooms for showers.
“This is the kind of community spirit which helps make things easier for people, when times are tough, as they are when people have no water. I know that the Old Ground Hotel and the Woodstock Hotel were accommodating people, both for short-time usage of rooms, for showering purposes and with very competitive room rates at short notice for people and their Christmas guests,” John Dillane, incoming president of Ennis Chamber said.
Contrary to reports that many shops around the country have sold out of large bottles of water, Ennis supermarkets are not showing any signs of running out of one, two or five litre bottles anytime soon.
A spokesman for Clare County Council said the local authority is continuing to locate leaks and repair them on a priority basis.
“Reservoir levels in some areas have improved slightly but extensive shut-offs will continue until further notice,” he said.
The council is also urging people to only use its emergency out-of-hours contact number to report major bursts and leaks in public areas.
“Many people are calling the number with problems relating to their own pipeworks. This of course is not something the council is directly answerable for. Obviously the council is doing its best to answer as many queries as possible,” he said.
While the county council has been regularly updating its website, Clare Fine Gael TD Joe Carey said there needs to be better communication regarding the situation with the public. He commended the work of the county council but added that the present difficulties highlight the need for substantial investment in the county’s water systems.
“The current disruptions to water supply are very hard on everyone, especially the elderly and people with young families. County Clare is once again one of the worse affected counties in terms of interrupted water supply. Our water systems are clearly not able to handle the added demands brought about by adverse weather. Partly, I believe, this is because many systems are aged and major capital upgrade works are badly required.
“Take the Ennis Water System, which supplies a population of more than 30,000 people. Why, for example, hasn’t the Ennis Water Augmentation Scheme been prioritised and delivered in full? The pipes are in the ground but other elements of the system have yet to happen such as the development of a new reservoir, a new pumping station and improved extraction capacity at Castle Lake.
“If this scheme were to have been identified by the Minister for Environment as critical to the development of Ennis and its environs, including Clarecastle, Barefield, Doora and Crusheen, there would not be such an under supply of water,” Deputy Carey claimed.
“It’s the stated intention of Government that water charges are to be introduced, well the service had better improve if that’s to happen. Can you imagine if water metering was currently in place and people were been asked to pay for water that the council were unable to deliver?” he concluded.
Lessons were not learned from the last severe cold snap, according to Mayor of Shannon Tony Mulcahy.
He claimed the latest weather crisis had not been well handled in Shannon. “Not a whole lot seems to have been learned from last year. We have great people working on the ground and they’ve done a great job, but there wasn’t enough of them working when they were needed.”
He said the council should have made sure there was enough staff on call to cope with problems and he felt there hadn’t been enough planning.
“There have been loads of calls and lots of houses have been destroyed. In a lot of them water came down through the ceiling and a good few local authority houses have been badly damaged. People have been looking for emergency accommodation,” he claimed.
Councillor Mulcahy said the problem with bursting pipes really emerged after the thaw set in on St Stephen’s Day.
Fellow councillor Patricia McCarthy said pipes at her own home had twice frozen, while she agreed there were major problems locally.
“It has been non stop. There have been a lot of burst pipes, mainly in attics and there have been stand pipes opened. It’s unusual to have so many pipes freezing in attics,” she said.
In order to conserve the supply, the council is shutting off water in Doora, Barefield, Crusheen, Ennis’ Lahinch Road, Shanaway Road, Clare Road around St Flannan’s College, Tulla Road, including Spancilhill Group Water Scheme, Gort Road and on the Quin Road from Railway Bridge out, from 9pm to 7am.
Water is also being shut off from 8pm to 8am in Shannon, Newmarket-on-Fergus, Sixmilebridge, Bunratty, Cratloe, Quin and Tulla. In Clonlara, Broadford, Shannon Banks, Westbury, Parteen, Ardnacrusha, Carraig Midhe and Coolisteigue water is being turned off from 7pm to 9am.
In North Clare, water shut-offs are in place from 11.30pm to 8am in New Quay, Corofin, Ruan, Ennistymon, Lahinch, Liscannor, Lisdoonvarna, Doolin and Fanore.
Regular updates and details of the locations of water tankers and standpipes can be found on Clare County Council’s website, www.clarecoco.ie.
The council’s emergency number is 087 4169496 and should only be used to report major bursts and leaks in public areas between 5pm each evening and 9.30am the next morning.
From 9.30am to 5pm, the council’s main office number is contactable at 065 6821616.