‘I’ve never come across as many water cuts in my life as I’ve come across here in Ballivor’

Frustrated resident in Ballivor have expressed their anger over constant cuts in their water supply and what they say is a lack of action by Irish water.

Residents some of which have young babies were last week left without water supply for days on end and had to resort to stocking up on bottled water or using family members’ homes for basic hygiene and cleaning purposes.

Water disruption is a common occurrence in the area according to locals who say that sometimes they receive no notice ahead of the cuts.

Resident Deborah Moore describes Ballivor as “a forgotten community” and urges those in authority to develop adequate infrastructure for the village. She said:

“I have been here six years now and I have lived in many parts of the country and outside of Ireland as well and I have never come across as many water cuts in my life as I’ve come across here.

“About 80 percent of the time it is without warning too, you’ll come down to the kitchen and there will be nothing coming out of the cold tap.

“We are still in the middle of a pandemic, water is a basic amenity, it is horrendous. I think looking at the history of it that they have just been sticking a band aid on this huge problem each time and not really getting down to the nitty gritty of fixing it.

“Every morning you wake up wondering if you are going to have water today and make the dreaded journey to the mains tap in the kitchen to check.

“People are reluctant to pay water rates because they see so much money and tax being horribly misspent in this country.

“I lived in London previously and we paid water rates of £450 a year but you never had issues with water, and you knew where the money was going because you got an itemised list from Thames Water telling you what percentage of your payment was being allocated to.

“Ballivor has no transport, no doctor, no dentist, no secondary school and quite often we also have electricity cuts.

“I can’t understand why we are a forgotten community, and we are only an hour from Dublin.

“A planning application has been lodged for a new housing development opposite my house, we desperately need houses but that is only going to put extra pressure on the water system that is already not being addressed properly.

“If you start sticking up houses and don’t have the basic facilities that is going to bring a community down.”

Fellow resident Gareth Ferguson who has a six-month old baby says the situation is “chaotic.” He added:

“It’s every second day now and in this case, it is the fourth day in a row without water. We moved in to Ballivor in October of last year and it has been a constant occurrence.

“We have a baby here that we have to get washed and clean bottles for so it’s a nightmare.

“More often than not we get no notice. You can’t clean anything you can’t even have a shower.

“Every couple of hours there is a tanker there filling the reservoir which is another issue in itself with the noise of the pump filling it.”

Tracy McElhinney says even when the water supply is in operation the quality has a lot to be desired.

“I have lived here all my life and this issue has never been resolved. I live about one mile from the village, and we are connected to the mains, but my parents live beside me, and they have their own well and the mains. We don't drink it; I fill my water container for drinking and cooking because it’s so bad.”

Local Fine Gael councillor Noel French said:

“I think it is a crazy situation, it has created a huge amount of difficulty particularly for parents with small babies.

“Irish Water talk about not having a big enough storage reservoir, they have been drawing water in there. It is extremely frustrating trying to get answers out of them.

Sinn Fein TD for Meath West Johnny Guirke has once again called on Irish Water to release the necessary funds for the reservoirs in Ballivor, Longwood and Enfield.

“On 16th June I raised the same issue with the Taoiseach Michael Martin, calling on the Government to intervene and make Irish Water release the €1.5 million funding so that the residents and local businesses have water without any interruption.”

IRISH WATER STATEMENT

In a statement to the Meath Chronicle Irish Water said it and Meath County Council were appealing to customers in Ballivor and surrounding areas to conserve water where possible in order to help maintain supply.

“Demand for water is currently higher than the production capacity of the water treatment plant and customers in the area have experienced intermittent outages.

“In order to help maintain supply to homes and businesses in the area, Irish Water and Meath County Council is tankering treated drinking water to the reservoir in Ballivor.”

Speaking about the water supply in Ballivor, John O’Donoghue, Irish Water said” “Irish Water is appealing to all customers to conserve water as demand is higher than the production capacity of the water treatment plant. While handwashing remains a priority, simple water conservation efforts can have a big impact on reducing demand on the supply. Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth and shaving can save up to six litres of water per minute. Taking a shower instead of a bath or using a watering can rather than a hose when gardening can also make a big difference in water use.”

The statement went on to say: “Irish Water is continuing to work with our local authority partners, contractors and others to safeguard the health and well-being of both staff and the public and to ensure the continuity of critical drinking water and wastewater services. Irish Water would like to remind people to follow the HSE Covid-19 advice and ensure frequent handwashing.

“Irish Water and Meath Co Council regret any inconvenience caused. Our customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and also through Twitter @IWCare with any queries. For updates please see the water supply and services section of our website.”

In a follow-up satement Irish Water added:

Irish Waters Capital Investment Plan contains a number of national programmes including the treated water storage programme. Irish Water has developed a national list of sites where there is no treated water storage and sites where additional storage is required. There are a significant number of projects on the list including the requirement for storage at Ballivor. Projects on the list will be prioritised annually at a national level with the objective to remove higher risk sites from this list (i.e. sites with run of river abstractions which are more vulnerable to supply outages) and to improve security of supply to the greatest number of customers. This prioritisation process is carried out on an annual basis.

Storage solutions for Ballivor will be reviewed at the next prioritisation cycle.

Irish Water is continuing to work at this time, with our Local Authority partners, contractors and others to safeguard the health and well-being of both staff and the public and to ensure the continuity of critical drinking water and wastewater services. Irish Water would like to remind people to follow the HSE COVID-19 advice and ensure frequent handwashing.