Anger over works that led to discolouring of water in Mayo supply

An elected member of Mayo County Council has expressed disappointment that many householders in Castlebar were not informed ahead essential repairs carried out to their water supply yesterday – a project that left them with water unfit for use due to its discoloured condition.

Councillor Ger Deere said he is still receiving complaints today from people angry about the matter.

He explained: “Irish Water has informed me that this was planned essential works on the system. But no household was notified of these works been carried out.

“So families were left in the dark as to why they had no water and then when it was restored they found it to be discoloured and they could not use it - and this caused a lot of inconvenience for family's and businesses.

“If Irish Water had notified those affected directly, plans could have been put in place.

“I want answers from Irish Water to how this communications breakdown occurred.

“This situation should never happen again and I want Irish Water to guarantee that they will put proper communications in place so ensure this type of situation never happens again.

“I can understand when there is an emergency with burst pipes that communication is difficult to get out there.

“But, in this case where works were scheduled, there is no excuse for not informing the households affected."

Correspondence received by Councillor Deere from Irish Water explained the company and Mayo County Council re-routed a water pipeline yesterday to facilitate the construction of the new dual carriageway.

The correspondence continued: “The works were advertised on the water supply and services update section of the Irish Water website, REF. MAY00031017.

“The works were carried out without incident until an issue arose late last night when a valve could not be opened and flows had to be reversed to direct supply to the town.

“The re-routing of the water caused the discolouration. Mayo County Council, on behalf of Irish Water, commenced scouring of the system to flush out the discoloured water. This is continuing this morning.

“We would like to apologise to customers affected by this unplanned issue and assure them that we are working as quickly and as safely as possible to rectify the problem within current Covid-19 guidelines.

“Customers can contact the Irish Water call centre on 1850 278 278 if they have any further queries relating to their water supply.”