This article is from page 3 of the 2010-01-05 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
WITH the Big Freeze set to contin- ue for days yet, Clare County Coun- cil is warning that they may have to shut off water to many areas to con- serve supplies.
The bad news comes after hun- dreds of homes were left for days on end with no supply due to burst mains over the Christmas period.
Council engineer, Sean Ward said yesterday that while supply has been restored to most areas, “There are
still several days of cold weather to come, and it is very possible that further areas may be affected by low pressure or loss of supply, and that further areas may need to have supplies shut off at night to allow reservoirs to recover. If we need to shut any areas off, we will advertise the fact on local radio.”
Mr Ward continued, “There was also a major loss of supply in the Loop Head peninsula due to a big main bursting on Blackweir Bridge, between Kilkee and Moyasta. As far
as can be ascertained at present, this burst was not directly related to the weather conditions.”
With the continuing cold weather, demand for water has increased in all the council’s water supplies throughout the county.
Effects of increased demand are currently being felt in Scariff and Tuamgraney, where supply has had to be shut off at night since New Year’s Eve, to allow reservoir levels to recover.
The council says that recovery
has been reasonably good, and it is likely that shut-offs can soon be er ere
Night shut-offs will continue in Tulla, however. Different parts of Cratloe are being affected at differ- ent times, and the council continues to seek leaks in the area and to bal- ance the pressures between the dif- ferent areas.
Also affected is the Ballybeg- Rockmount area between Ennis and Clarecastle, and higher areas off the Tulla Road in Ennis.
Parts of north Clare supplied by the Ballymacraven treatment plant in Ennistymon are experiencing re- duced pressure and loss of supply at various times.
“The increase in demand is due to a combination of factors, mainly burst and leaking pipes both in the council’s own network and in pri- vate houses and other premises, and some people’s practice of letting taps run continuously in an effort to avoid freezing of pipes,’ said Mr WET UGE