Mayo councillor calls for full upgrade of island water network

AN Achill councillor has called on Uisce Éireann to apply for funding for a complete upgrade of the water network in the island parish after a number of water outages over the summer.

Water supply to many homes in the parish of Achill were disrupted over the summer months after water bursts put pressure on the water system and resulted in reservoirs in the parish running dry.

Local councillor Paul McNamara told the meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District that one household has been without water for 24 days so far in 2024 and there is deep frustration in communities affected by the outages.

The Fianna Fáil councillors said money is being spent to bring water trucks onto the island to refill reservoirs and the only solution will be a total upgrade of the water network.

“What is happening there is a large number of bursts occurring and it results in a loss of capacity of water in storage in reservoirs and by time fixed and supply restored the reservoirs are empty. As a result a number of consumers have contacted me and are very frustrated. Some of them have kept the record of how many days they were out of water so far this year and some have been out of water for 24 days so far this year.

“This is ongoing and what I am asking is for Mayo County Council to contact Uisce Éireann and ask them to a workshop to discuss what can be done with the network. I believe the Achill water network system should be prioritised for a full upgrade on the network in the parish. I ask Uisce Éireann to attend a workshop to discuss how we will go about getting it shovel ready to apply for funding,” he said.

The meeting heard that the main reservoir at the treatment plant at Corrymore Lake is being upgraded to hold a seven-hour storage capacity but Cllr McNamara felt that this was still not sufficient to meet the demands of the parish.

“Mayo County Council can say they are not in charge of water services but consumers are paying a property tax and one of the things they feel they are entitled to is water from a tap. This problem will only get worse and I would ask Mayo County Council to invite Uisce Éireann to a workshop meeting to progress an application for a design of a new total upgrade of the Achill network system,” he said.

Cllr McNamara was supported by his party colleague Cllr Seán Carey from Erris, who said that farmers in his region were frustrated that they would have to pay a standing charge of €83 per water meter on each of their holdings. He said this was not fair on farmers with fragmented holdings and urged the water utility company to rethink their position.

Independent councillor John O'Malley called Uisce Éireann one of the 'biggest disasters in the state' and warned that farmers will not be paying a standing charge for each meter. He said that farmers who fenced off rivers to stop livestock from accessing it will open them up again instead of paying for water.