Irish Examiner View: Water services stretched as users suffer

For seven years the 9,500 householders who get their water from the Whitegate water supply scheme in East Cork have either had to boil the water coming from their taps or buy bottled water.

Anyone paying attention to the ongoing issues in the UK with vital water utilities such as Thames Water — the UK’s biggest water company, which has a £14bn (€16.3bn) debt pile and a leadership crisis after the unexpected resignation of its chief executive — might think it is an appalling situation in this day and age.

With the supply to some 15m customers under threat amid perceived mismanagement, suboptimal performance, exposed balance sheet, a crisis with sewage outflows, and accusations of asset stripping, the crisis at Thames Water seems almost unthinkable in a modern “first world” country.

Privatised by the Tory government of Margaret Thatcher in 1989, the utility is now owned by a consortium of infrastructure and pension funds as well as a number of sovereign wealth funds from across the globe, including China, Canada, Abu Dhabi, and the UK.

To many onlookers and experts, the privatisation has been an abject lesson in failure and has, over the last 35 years or so, brought the company to the point where draft contingency plans are being drawn up to deal with its potential collapse.

Here in Ireland, we face no such dilemma, but over the last decade the increasing numbers of boil water notices that have been inflicted on towns and rural communities around the country has been notable.

One such example has been that of those 9,500 householders who get their water from the Whitegate water supply scheme. This scheme covers a wide geographical area in East Cork, including Whitegate itself as well as Aghada, Cloyne, Ballycotton, Saleen, Ballinacurra, and parts of Midleton.

For seven years the people in the areas affected have either had to boil the water coming from their taps or choose the increasingly expensive option of buying bottled water. A planning objection to a proposed new Uisce Éireann treatment plant means the development will not now be operational until 2026 at best.

The Whitegate situation, like many others across the country, such as in Galway, Kildare, and Meath in recent years, is an intolerable one and especially so for older residents and families with young children.

Moves have been made to try and get An Bord Pleanála to fast-track the planning appeal or for Uisce Éireann or the Government to somehow compensate families for the added expense of having to purchase bottled water.

This is a matter of urgency for the people subjected to boil water notices. The issues involved are not insurmountable, but the resolve necessary to do so appears to be sadly lacking.

This is not a crisis at the level of Thames Water, but it’s still not good enough.