Emergency water supply for city

AN EMERGENCY drinking water supply has been set up in Cork city once again.

Just eight weeks after the November floods knocked out the supply to 18,000 homes, people were again queuing for drinking water across vast swathes of the northside as a result of the big freeze.

Additional standpipes will be supplied in other areas as the need arises, city manager Joe Gavin said.

Burst pipes combined with an unprecedented demand are responsible for the interruption to the city’s water supply this time, he said.

His comments came as city engineers battled to restore water to the Mercy University Hospital (MUH) after a mains pipe on Sheares Street burst.

It was hoped that water would be restored last night before engineers move to repair dozens of bursts and leaks which are disrupting water supply to large parts of the city.

The affected areas include Redemption Rd, Lovers Walk, Killeens, Pophams Rd/Kilnap, Parklands, Onslow Gardens, Richmond Hill, Assumption Rd, Rathmore Rd, Commons Rd, Dublin Hill, Redforge Rd, Ballyvolane, Glen Heights, River View and Meadow Park.

Mr Gavin urged the public not to hoard water and not to leave taps running as a means of preventing pipes freezing.

“There has been a huge increase in consumer demand for water. The public must play its part in ensuring continuity of water supplies and must conserve water,” he said.

The council has enough salt to last another five or six days, council workers are mixing salt and grit to treat 120 kilometres of road every evening, and city centre footpaths are also being treated, he added

But Cllr Jonathon O’Brien (SF) said the council had been slow to respond to the cold weather crisis.

“I got phone calls over Christmas from home help workers who said they couldn’t get to some homes,” he said.

Socialist Party Cllr Mick Barry praised the work of council workers responding on the ground.

“But we have just two council plumbers to serve the entire city. And there is a lack of equipment. I fear that the work is being hampered by cutbacks,” he said.

Mr Gavin said everything that needs to be done, is being done and that cutbacks are not effecting the emergency response.

Outsourcing is an option and the army is on standby, he added.

Cllr Terry Shannon (FF) urged people to help the authorities and grit footpaths in their own estates.

Mr Gavin said such “sensible self-help initiatives” should be encouraged.