Waterford homes left without drinking water or showers due to supply issues
"I’ve had two emergency service workers out all hours of the night during the cold weather, and they came home to no water in their homes, and they were unable to shower" - Cllr Catherine Burke
A Waterford Councillor has said people are being left without drinking water or showering facilities due to supply issues in the county.
Cllr Catherine Burke told elected members and officials at the January plenary meeting at Waterford City and County Council in Dungarvan that water supply is “a huge issue” in Waterford.
“I have representations on representations from people without drinking water, people without showering facilities. I’ve had two emergency service workers out all hours of the night during the cold weather, and they came home to no water in their homes, and they were unable to shower.
“This is just unacceptable in this day and age,” said Cllr Burke.
The Comeragh councillor acknowledged that water is the remit of Uisce Éireann but asked if the council could speak with them.
“There must be some way Waterford City and County Council can put forward correspondence to Uisce Éireann to say that the infrastructure needs to be improved,” said Cllr Burke.
The Director of Housing, Community and Emergency Services, Helena Dennehy said there is a dedicated line for councillors at Uisce Éireann, and that is the fastest way to get in contact with the utility.
Cllr Burke said she was aware of that, but if that isn’t working, what next?
“I’ve been using that daily now, for the past two weeks,” said Cllr Burke.
Waterford City and County Council CEO Seán McKeown responded saying Uisce Éireann is aware of the issues but doesn’t have the resources they need to address them.
He said the council have outlined the capacity problems in the County Development Plan, which Uisce Éireann must take into account when developing its National Investment Programme every five years.
But he said the water utility gets all of its funding from the state, which is not enough.
“It is a reality that Uisce Éireann does not get sufficient capital.
“All of their funding comes from the national coffers, so we just have to keep campaigning to ensure that they get the funding to cover all of the issues that we are facing,” said Mr McKeown.
