Water outages in Kinnegad area 'simply not good enough', says SF candidate

A local election candidate says that “it's simply not good enough” that households across a significant part of the county have been hit with five water outages in the last fortnight.

In a press release issued to the Westmeath Examiner, Sinn Féin local election candidate Maureen Pigott said that homes in Knockdrin, Crookedwood, Rathvonnell, Cloghan, Raharney, Rathwire, Killucan, Thomastown, Correllstown and Kinnegad have been affected by four water outages in less than two weeks caused by a burst water mains.

The latest outage occurred around midnight on Easter Monday leaving hundreds of households without water on Tuesday morning.

Ms Pigott, who contacted Uisce Éireann after being contacted by a number of people, says that four water outages in two weeks - Uisce Éireann later confirmed that there had been five in ten days - “is is simply not good enough”.

“People in rural areas deserve better services with more consistent water supply. I was told by my constituents that when they as individuals try to contact Uisce Éireann, formerly Irish Water, they were left on hold for up to a half an hour and then asked ridiculous questions like did they have a pump outside, when they had already said they were not farmers and did not have their own well.

“Most people nowadays are on the mains. The company knows this when you ring up, however, unfortunately there are some repetitive questions which have to be asked.”

Uisce Éireann issued this statement this afternoon when contacted by the Westmeath Examiner:

There have been five outages in the Knockdrin/Crookedwood area in the last 10 days. These outages, which have occurred due to bursts on the aged pipe network, were all repaired by Uisce Éireann crews as quickly as possible after they were identified.

Each of these five bursts occurred in different locations along the same network. This can happen when the network is repressurised after a burst has occurred which can result in additional pressure on other parts of the network which may be susceptible to bursts.

Uisce Éireann has replaced parts of this network which will assist in reducing the number of supply disruptions for customers. We will continue to work closely with local operational teams to continue to prioritise watermains replacement across County Westmeath.

There was burst in the Corralstown area on Good Friday, March 29, which resulted in outages in the Killucan/Kinnegad areas. Expert crews were immediately deployed and carried out the necessary repairs works on Friday ensuring that supply returned to customers that day.

Uisce Éireann understands how disruptive bursts are and we regret the inconvenience caused. We would like to thank impacted customers for their patience while we work on repairs and restore the water supply as quickly as possible to all customers.

Interruptions to supply as a result of burst water mains or treatment plant interruptions may result in water outages which are unplanned and cannot be communicated in advance. Uisce Éireann aims to update the services and supply map at www.water.ie as soon as details of a water outage is notified along with an update on restoration times.

Vulnerable customers who have registered with Uisce Éireann receive direct communications from us for planned and unplanned outages lasting more than four hours. The Uisce Éireann customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and customers can also contact us on X @IWCare with any queries. For updates, please visit the Supply and Service Updates section of our website.