Uisce Eireann explains outage that left hundreds of Trim households without water over Christmas

Over 200 households in Trim endured a miserable Christmas after being left without a water supply to their area.

Residents of The Belfry estate and Talbot Court on the Athboy Road woke up on Christmas Eve morning to no running water with calls made by panicked homeowners to Uisce Eireann seeking answers. Businesses in the Oak Tree business park were believed to be affected also.

Now Uisce Eireann has explained how difficulties identifying the source of a major leak led to delays in repairs.

"On 24th December, we were made aware that flows within the Trim network had significantly increased, placing the water treatment plant under pressure. Once the elevated flows were identified, crews were dispatched to the Trim area to locate where water was being lost, said Donal O’Grady, Communications Advisor – Project & Communities with Uisce Eireann.

"The estimated loss was approximately 40 m³/hr, which meant that if the affected area was not isolated, the overall Trim supply would be impacted. Investigations continued over the following days, and by 26th December, the issue was narrowed down to the Oaktree Business Park, Belfry, Whitehall and Talbot court areas.

"Due to the nature of the leak, crews were unable to pinpoint the exact location until late on 27 December. A repair crew was dispatched on the morning of 28th December. The affected main, a uPVC pipe encased in concrete, was exposed, revealing that the pipe had split along the bottom along its full length. The damaged section was fully replaced, restoring network integrity.

"To support customers during the outage, multiple pallets of bottled water were distributed, three IBCs (Intermediate Bulk Containers) were deployed, and three affected areas were supplied on a regular basis by the Uisce Éireann tanker."

The outage caused extreme frustration over the Christmas period.

"We have families, elderly, children with disabilities, one poor family had the winter bug at home and no water. We've been forced to take our washing out to machines at garages. It's an absolute health hazard," said one resident.

The Castle Arch Hotel offered its facilities to local residents during the four day outage.

Speaking during the incident local Aontú Cllr Dave Boyne stated that leaving households without water for days over Christmas was “completely unacceptable” and that residents had been failed by both Irish Water and the political system that shields it from consequences.

“Water is not a luxury or a discretionary service. It is a basic human right. This is an unbelievable level of incompetence from Irish Water, its basically an institutional failure”.

“What makes this situation especially unacceptable is that part of this outage was scheduled by Irish Water! Scheduled maintenance during the Christmas period, when families are at home, demand is high, and alternatives are limited, represents a staggering failure of judgement”.

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