Laois scorn poured on Irish Water for a long outage in big Laois town

Uisce Éireann has come in for severe criticism in Laois for not warning the people of Mountmellick about a long water outage caused by the clearing of a reservoir that supplies the town.

However, the company insists that the work went on for 'slightly longer' than expected and it gave notice of the works on its website while it automatically sends texts to people about disruptions.

However, that wasn't the experience of local people according to their public representative. The State-owned utility, aka Irish Water, came in for a stinging rebuke from Cllr Paddy Bracken at a meeting in Laois County Council.

"I want to condemn in the strongest possible way the failure of Irish Water to notify the people of Mountmellick about the cutting off of water," he told councillors and officials.

The Fianna Fáil representative said the water was out from 9am on Thursday, July 18 and did not return until the early hours of Friday, July 19.

He acknowledged the work had to be done at the Derryguile reservoir. He understood that 45 tonnes of sediment had to be removed. That being said he insisted that the company should have done more.

He said a leaflet drop could have been carried out temporary electronic signs erected around the town advising people of what was to come a week out before the work was scheduled.

"There were elderly people left with no water in awful situations," he said.

Cllr Bracken added that the company's failure to adequately communicate the outage resulted in Irish Water's  local staff taking "untold abuse" which he said was "unfair" as they were only doing their job. 

He raised the problem at a Borris-in-Ossory Mountmellick Municipal District meeting where he called for a letter to be written to Uisce Éireann. He said this must condemn what happened and insist there should not be a repeat. This was agreed at the meeting.

"If there is a breakdown due to a damaged pipe people can understand but this was a planned operation and no one was informed," he said.

There were no recent notifications about work in Mountmellick on the Uisce Éireann X social media account. It's website does carry a notice confirming that work were scheduled to take place from 9am until midnight on 18 July. It added that people should allow 3-4 hours after the estimated restoration time for your supply to fully return.

The Leinster Express / Laois Live contacted Uisce Éireann for a statement. It confirmed that the was necessary.

"Essential maintenance on the drinking water reservoir at Mountmellick was undertaken on the 18 July which caused supply disruptions to Catholes, The Rock, Acragar and surrounding areas in Co. Laois. Works were due for completion at midnight, in July. Due to the complexity of the work it was completed slightly later than expected. Full supply was returned through the night," it said.

The company added that its crews worked early Friday morning, July 19, to manage some airlocks on the network associated to return of supply. It added that would take until later into July 19 before normal water pressure is fully returned to all customers, especially for those on higher ground or at the end of the network. It also advised anyone who experiences issues on return of supply such as discolouration, low pressure or airlocks can find further information which may help on our website.

The company also commented on the claim that no notice was given.

"As per regulatory requirements the details of all planned interruptions to a water supply are communicated digitally on our website at least 48 hours in advance. When a planned interruption is uploaded to the Uisce Éireann website, it automatically activations our vulnerable customers and a text message is issued.

"Our vulnerable customer contact process is activated to ensure customers who have highlighted to us that they have specific needs where the water supply is essential are contacted directly.

"Uisce Éireann understands the inconvenience when an outage occurs and thanks customers for their patience while we worked to restore supply," it said.

Uisce Éireann added that its customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and customers can also contact us on X @IWCare with any queries.