Uisce Éireann flushing of water pipes in Cork city caused discolouration

Flushing works over the weekend led to brown tap water across Cork city, with a local councillor calling for households to be refunded for the amount they are spending on bottled water due to the ongoing issue.

Sinn Féin councillor for Cork City North West, Michelle Gould, shared a photo of the brown water in her home and said she was contacted by loads of constituents with the same issue.

“One man said he went for a shower and the water was just brown so he couldn’t have a shower, people are just sick of it.

“It’s been going on so long and we can’t see it getting better. They do the flushing and we just see no improvement.”

Ms Gould said that every day she is either contacted about the problem or sees people sharing it on social media. She said it was the number one issue at the doors this year when she was canvassing for the June local elections.

“Uisce Éireann have really let people down. There’s no end in sight and it’s costing people money. They’re spending an extra €20 or €30 a week on bottled water.”

Uisce Éireann has said they can only put a water tanker in place when a water outage is pre-empted.

Ms Gould said: “They need to start refunding or giving out vouchers for bottled water. Even then it still wouldn’t be good enough. People have reported that their kids are getting sick or getting pains in their stomach, and Uisce Éireann still won’t come to a meeting of Cork City Council and speak with us face to face.

“Vulnerable people are affected, everybody is affected — it’s third world stuff,” she said.”

“We were patient for long enough with the flushing and them leaving roads in terrible conditions when they’re finished works. But, it’s just gotten to a point now where it’s soul destroying.

“People have gotten sick of reporting it because nothing changes, so now they’re just not bothering anymore.

“Uisce Éireann will say they’re working on it and to report it if there’s problems but it’s the same things we’ve heard before — it’s like groundhog day every day.”

Ms Gould said businesses and community services such as Meals on Wheels are suffering as well as domestic houses.

Uisce Éireann commenced targeted flushing in several areas across the city in response to what it says are “increased reports of discolouration” over the weekend.

The company said ahead of the flushing that its dedicated taskforce committed to tackling the issue across the city “continue to closely monitor instances of discolouration”.

They reminded people not to drink discoloured water and in the event of discolouration to run the tap for up to 20 minutes.