Water outages increasing in Donegal

Irish Water needs to invest significantly on infrastructure regarding the replacement of public water mains throughout Donegal.

Donegal County Councillor Martin Farren's motion on the issue was passed unanimously at Wednesday's plenary council meeting, held in the Aura leisure centre in Letterkenny.

Cllr Farren said the issue of burst and leaking pipes and water outages touched a chord with a large number of people throughout Donegal, judging by the high number of emails on the issue he received on a daily basis.

Cllr Farren said: “The reason why this is happening is because the vast majority of the piping throughout the county is 60 years or more old and needs to be replaced.

“We can all talk about our own areas. Ironically, from my own perspective living in Inishowen, I received two or three emails today about burst pipes in Carndonagh and Clonmany. This is happening on a daily basis and the only way to resolve this problem is by Irish Water investing significantly in the water mains.

“The Moville / Greencastle / Shrove area has been hit quite significantly over the last number of months. There have been quite a number of bursts but it is happening throughout the county. The only way to address this problem is for Irish Water to replace the piping.”

Cllr Farren acknowledged the repair work carried out by Donegal County Council staff in relation to the ongoing bursts and leaks.

“The team we have in this area does a tremendous job. They are on site and quickly as possible to solve the problem and get the water supply restored. But, with all due respect, they are swimming against the tide simply because of the infrastructure we have,” he said.

“We talk about bringing tourists into our county and here in Inishowen, we are very proud of the peninsula and try to bring as many people around as we possibly can. We talk about the Swilly Ferry and we talk about the Foyle Ferry. I would like to thank Donegal County Council for putting the funding in place every year to invite tourists to our area.

“As well as that, we have a lot of people with holiday homes here, who come here during the summer months and, of course, that puts extra pressure on our water system. Inevitably we are going to have more bursts and breakdowns.

“I went through an experience here for a number of years and I had the full support of Donegal County Council, especially the Inishowen councillors. We had very poor water quality in the Greencastle and Shroove area. Irish Water investment €5.5 million and did a tremendous job of improving that water supply, which is now coming from the Pollan Dam. However, what I need now, like so many other councillors throughout Donegal, is proper piping, the proper infrastructure to carry this water. The only way we can do that is by replacing it.

“If there is a burst or a leak in a rural area, maybe about two or three o'clock in the afternoon, all the team can do at that stage is knock the water off and be there early the next morning to start the work. Understandably, for health and safety reasons, the Donegal County Council team cannot work after dark, so people might be without water maybe from three o'clock that day until maybe one or two o'clock the following afternoon.

“These are the type of things we are coming up against in Inishowen and wider Donegal and I think it needs to be addressed because it is happening more and more,” said Cllr Farren, who's motion was seconded by Cllr Martin McDermott.

Cllr McDermott said every councillor could relate to what Cllr Farren was saying in relation to in relation to burst pipes.

Addressing the issue, John McLaughlin, Donegal County Council's chief executive said the council would write to Irish Water following the adoption of Cllr Farren's motion.

“We will also talk to Irish Water in our meetings about what can be done and follow up the particular concerns regarding in Greencastle and Ballybrack,” he said.