Serious safety concerns as water supply to Cork areas comes under pressure

Multiple water mains breaks and low-pressure problems are fuelling further concerns about the danger to life and property in the Carrigaline and Crosshaven areas.

The low-pressure issue came to light again on Monday, as firefighters tackled what one described as a “monster” gorse fire close to Camden Fort Meagher in Crosshaven.

Last September, fire brigade crews attending a blaze in a housing estate in Carrigaline found the water pressure so low that they brought water tankers from Cork City and Midleton to contain the blaze.

Carrigaline-based Fianna Fáil councillor Patrick Donovan said the town and surrounding areas have suffered excessive amounts of water mains breaks.

“The Ballea Road has seen multiple breaks at the same location over months,” said Mr Donovan.

“This is affecting local businesses such as the Carrigaline Court Hotel, which had to close on occasions due to this, and many households,” Mr Donovan said.

“Two weeks ago, over the course of one week, we had multiple breaks. They included Ballea Rd, Liosbourne, Ferny Rd, St Philomena’s Pl, and additional breaks in Ringaskiddy and Crosshaven.”

Health and safety

Fine Gael councillor Una McCarthy said it’s not just a major inconvenience, but a serious health and safety issue.

Last September, she highlighted the poor water pressure at the housing estate in Carrigaline in The Echo, adding that she received the same concerns about this from firefighters who tackled the Crosshaven gorse fire.

Mr O’Donovan said that the level of breaks is completely unacceptable, describing repairs as “Band-Aid” jobs.

He said he has been inundated with complaints, adding that Uisce Éireann’s response to the issue is “simply not good enough”.

Both councillors expressed fears that the water network is incapable of sustaining the current population of their municipal district — which has the largest number of people of all the eight municipals in the region — and maintained it is definitely inadequate to cater for the thousands of homes planned to be built there in the coming years.

Mr Donovan got unanimous cross-party support for the council to write to the utility’s chief executive seeking explanations as to the current inadequacies and what plans the company has to improve capacity and reliability in the future.

Criticised Uisce Éireann

Other councillors from across the county also criticised Uisce Éireann.

Cobh-based Fine Gael councillor Sinead Sheppard said that it was ironic that the utility was calling on the public to conserve water during the heatwave, but yet did nothing for a week when a large leak occurred in her hometown.

“The timeframe for them to carry out repairs is really poor."

Fianna Fail councillor Frank O’Flynn, of Fermoy, said that there were previously three repair crews based in the north-east Cork region.

However, that had been reduced to one, which cannot cope with the workload, he said.

Charleville-based Fianna Fáil councillor Ian Doyle said that there had been three leaks in his area, which were ongoing for about six weeks.

Áontú councillor Peter O’Donoghue added: “The trouble with Uisce Éireann is it’s an organisation of many chiefs and few Indians. There’s not enough staff on the ground.”