Over the last number of days, Uisce Éireann has been working to address any supply interruptions to customers as a result of the recent storms. Our priority is the provision of clean safe drinking water to communities and the safety of water services staff who work to make that happen.

In Cork, parts of Clonakilty, Dunmanway, Cloughduv and Newmarket were without water and nighttime restrictions were in place to give reservoirs time to replenish. There were also several burst watermains in Kanturk, Kinsale, Castlelyons and Glanmire that had been impacting supply for customers. Nighttime water restrictions remain in place for customers in the Reenascreena and Carrigfadda areas.

Cormac Bergin, Water Operations Engineer for Uisce Éireann in Cork County, said:

“It has been a busy period for our engineers, curators and repair crews, who have been hard at work in very difficult weather conditions to carry our repairs and restore water for our customers. The majority of customers should have their normal water supply returned by now.

We understand the inconvenience unplanned outages can have and we want to thank impacted customers for their patience and for conserving water.”

Homes and businesses can play their part and take some simple actions to conserve water throughout the year including: 

• Check your home, business premises and unoccupied premises for leaks and get them fixed.
• Report any leaks you see in the public network via water.ie or the Uisce Éireann customer care centre, so that we can prioritise and dispatch crews to carry out critical repairs.
• Don’t leave taps running and fix any dripping taps inside or outside your property.
• Be mindful of water use in your business and look for opportunities to make savings. This can save businesses money, not only in their water bills but also in their energy costs as heating, pumping water etc. all require additional electricity.
• You can find lots of useful water saving tips on our website www.water.ie/conserve. This also includes an easy-to-use conservation calculator so you can work out how much water you are currently saving and how to conserve even more.

The Uisce Éireann website water.ie is updated regularly with local outage information and our contact centre is available 24/7 on 1800 278 278 to support our customers.

Customers are urged to check water.ie and or report loss of service or visible leaks to assist Uisce Éireann to identify bursts. Live updates on outages are also available on Twitter @IW_Care.

Notes

Checking for leaks

It is important to check for and repair leaks on your premises, especially during the cold, winter months. Business owners should be mindful of the risk of frozen pipes and possible bursts if a building is left unoccupied and unheated during a spell of very cold weather. If a commercial premises is unoccupied while there is a spell of cold weather, there is an increased risk of frozen pipes and consequent damage. Business owners should regularly inspect properties for leaks during a period of closures, whilst adhering to the public health regulations and advice.

Additional Tips to help you conserve water

• Leak free: Check that your home is leak free. Check for running overflows and fix any dripping taps, cisterns or pipes
• Don’t let the tap run: Brushing your teeth with the tap running can use up to a staggering 6 litres per minute. Brushing your teeth with the tap off will use a more modest 1 litre of water
• Shower vs. Bath: The average bath uses 80 litres of water compared to an average shower using 49 litres in seven minutes. Switch your bath to a shower for a massive water saving
• Less time: With the average shower using 7 litres of water per minute by turning your five minute shower into four minutes, you could save up to 7 litres of water per day!
• Fully loaded: Always ensure your dishwasher and washing machines are fully loaded. A modern washing machine uses approximately 65 litres of water per cycle while a dishwasher uses 20 litres. By ensuring they are fully loaded, not only will you conserve water but you will also reduce your energy bills
• Don’t flush it all away: A third of all water used in the home is flushed down the toilet. Some larger cisterns can continue to work effectively with a smaller flush. Place a displacement device into the cistern (out of the way of moving parts) to save water