Latest: Water restored in Cork city following significant burst to mains 

Uisce Éireann says it has completed repair works and restored water supply for impacted customer following a burst to a major trunk water main yesterday afternoon.

The burst mains caused extensive flooding in areas of Cork City on Wednesday evening. 

Several businesses in the city centre had to close their doors after the flooding impacted Sullivan’s Quay, South Mall, Grand Parade, Morrison’s Island, South Terrace, Rutland Square, Parliament Bridge, Douglas Street and the surrounding areas.

Traffic restrictions were put in place by Cork City Council to direct motorists to avoid the area.

Businesses such as Sober Lane were impacted with the proprietor of the Sullivan’s Quay premises, Sober Lane, Ernest Cantillon, confirming that food had been prepared and this had to be disposed of which was a waste and costly. Nearby establishment, Izz Café, operated on a deliveries and take-away only basis while the works were ongoing.

According to Fine Gael councillor, Joe Kavanagh, incidents such as a burst water main ‘could not be legislated for’ and he paid tribute to Cork City Fire Service who were on the scene with four tenders to help impacted restaurants and other businesses.

“The emergency services acted very swiftly in fairness and I’d like to pay tribute to them because the Fire Brigade and Cork City Council were on site, at the end of the day you can’t legislate for a burst water main,” said the Fine Gael councillor.

“We’ve all come across burst water mains from time to time and sometimes it doesn’t have a huge impact but when it happens in a high profile place like the city centre, or a town centre, obviously it’s going to get a lot of publicity whether it’s positive or negative.

“I don’t know what damage is done, but it’s not something that’s a regular occurrence,” he said.

Mr Kavanagh said the City Council was now pressing ahead with flood relief works which would commence in the Morrison’s Island area and he also pointed to the ongoing works by Uisce Éireann to replace up to 600km of old water pipes in the city.

“That’s going to take a number of years and it’s being done step by step,” he said. “You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, and there’s going to be a few things like water discoloration and inconsistency in terms of water flow from time to time but when the dust settles on all this in years to come, we will be in a far better place.

“Even when we get new pipes put in there, there’s always a possibility of a burst water main.” 

Uisce Éireann Water Operations Lead Seán Lynch said the utility understood the impact that unplanned outages could have on customers. “Repairs of this nature can prove challenging given the location and I’d like to thank the crews who put in a big effort to return supply as soon as possible,” he said, also expressing gratitude to ‘impacted stakeholders for their patience, co-operation and assistance’.

The company has advised that following any significant activity on the water network, it usually sees increased instances of sediment becoming dislodged from the old cast iron pipes, resulting in temporary discoloured water at customers’ taps. 

"If your tap water is discoloured, running the tap for up to 20 minutes will usually restore water to a clear colour. Water is safe to drink once the water is running clear. Uisce Éireann continues to advise customers not to drink discoloured water.

"The Uisce Éireann customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and updates are also issued via X (formerly Twitter) @IWCare," Uisce Éireann said.