Hundreds left without water as east Mayo plant doesn't have backup generator

RESIDENTS and schools in the second largest parish in the country were left without water as the local treatment plant doesn't have a generator as backup.

That was the recent reality for hundreds of customers of the Killasser Group Water Scheme and local Councillor Adrian Forkan has asked that funding be found so they don't lose water again when there are power outages.

Numerous representations have been received after the recent storms, which resulted in a big power outage in Killasser, he told a municipal meeting.

The project was delivered by the council and Coffeys, with water being pumped to the reservoir, which is on a hill.

Councillor Forkan said he understood that €1 million was spent on the treatment plant, adding: “It's hard to believe there is no generator that will kick in when the power is off.”

There are two schools, hundreds of houses, and an area of 50 miles of pipe, from Sonnagh in Charlestown to Attymachugh and over to Swinford, he explained.

The people there can't do anything about it, he explained, and he was asking the council to get on to Coffeys, who run the plant, to put in a generator, noting how the electricity supply is vulnerable if there are storms.

Councillor Gerry Murray said the water scheme in nearby Callow has a generator and he was astonished to hear there wasn't one in Killasser.

“There should be a Plan B,” he said.

Senior engineer Conrad Harley said the council has no control in it but they would write to Coffeys about it.