Water supply in Erris went ‘dangerously low’ due to power shortages

POWER shortages in the Erris region over the last number of weeks has left water reservoirs ‘dangerously low’, leading to a call to preserve water in the barony.

Local councillor Gerry Coyle told the monthly meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District that the recent power cuts caused by Storm Isla meant the water treatment plant at Carrowmore Lake could not operate at full capacity, meaning water is low in some reservoirs.

“I would ask people to save and spare water in the sheds and out in the fields because with the amount of power outages, the purifier wasn’t working and it was very dangerously. The power went off before Christmas and went off again with the storm and the reservoir is not being filled up with fresh water. If people could spare the water as much as possible. I know people might say there is loads of rain and water but it has to be purified before it goes to the tap and that is where the delay was,” he said.