There are reports of further water outages in Lismore. The town has reported several outages in recent weeks with businesses and schools having to close.
In a statement to WLR following ongoing works to the water network in the West Waterford town, Uisce Éireann said several factors have led to the current situation.
"Regrettably, several recent incidents have impacted Lismore's water supply. Uisce Éireann acknowledges and regrets the inconvenience. We would like to assure customers that when an unplanned outage occurs, local water services crews are immediately dispatched to do repair work as soon as possible. Our focus is always on ensuring that the water supply is returned to all customers as quickly as possible.
"Currently, the Lismore area has no storage facility for treated drinking water. Any interruption to production at the water treatment plant immediately affects all customers. Interruptions or low water pressure are often a result of power outages, leaks or bursts on the network.
"Overall, the lack of treated water storage remains a key challenge that will be resolved as part of the long-term solution. Uisce Eireann will be carrying out analysis workshops in the coming months on the provision of storage. This storage will need to be provided in a location that will ensure the long-term sustainability of the Lismore Public Water Supply. Providing a robust, resilient, and safe water supply to the local community of Lismore remains a top priority for Uisce Éireann, but it will require a significant capital investment, including land acquisition, planning, and procurement, which will take time.
"After an interruption to supply, normal water supply can take several hours to return to all customers, particularly for those on higher ground or at the farthest reaches of the network; it can take longer.
"The National Water Resource Plan's preferred approach for the Lismore water supply is a new groundwater source to meet the projected demand. Uisce Éireann has conducted an initial hydrogeology review of the area under the Supply Demand Balance Groundwater Programme and is conducting further investigations this year."
More on this story today on WLR.
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