Water supplies running low
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
From The Water Services Dept. Fingal County Council
This is to advise that it is proving necessary to step up from the throttling back of water supplies, undertaken by all four Dublin local authorities in recent days since the onset of very cold weather conditions, to conserve reservoir levels.
The escalation is proving necessary to prevent a serious depletion of water reserves and to control supply by matching use with the regional capacity to supply treated water.
The depletion that happened in January last when householders running water taps, combined with serious mains fractures, resulted in a prolonged period before normal water levels in reservoirs could be restored. While there have been relatively few water mains bursts so far this cold season, there is strong evidence from the pattern of use that householders have reverted to running taps to "prevent water pipes bursting".
From tomorrow, Tuesday 07th December each local authority will cut off supply in one of four designated areas in each authority area from 7pm to 7am next morning.
This cut-off will be for each area in turn so that, in effect, each area will only be affected every 4th day.
Every household has sufficient supply for up to 12 hours minimum from roof-tanks installed according to water byelaws. So the minimum of inconvenience should be experienced if people use water supplies responsibly and plan for the non-supply period.
The Council will be emphasising the normal "conserve water" advice notices on their website, but are reluctant to over-emphasise the need to conserve water as this, regrettably, had the opposite effect when used in the same context in January. So far there has been relatively few watermain bursts. A sudden thaw may bring an onset of these bursts and resultant pressure on our staff to repair them.
Transportation staff, supplemented by staff from the Parks and Environment divisions endeavour to keep roads, rail stations and transport nodes, hospital access and school crossings accessible. The level of work involved here has been considerable, as will the water cut-offs for Water Services staff who will attend before and after the cut-off and resumption of supply.
This is to advise that it is proving necessary to step up from the throttling back of water supplies, undertaken by all four Dublin local authorities in recent days since the onset of very cold weather conditions, to conserve reservoir levels.
The escalation is proving necessary to prevent a serious depletion of water reserves and to control supply by matching use with the regional capacity to supply treated water.
The depletion that happened in January last when householders running water taps, combined with serious mains fractures, resulted in a prolonged period before normal water levels in reservoirs could be restored. While there have been relatively few water mains bursts so far this cold season, there is strong evidence from the pattern of use that householders have reverted to running taps to "prevent water pipes bursting".
From tomorrow, Tuesday 07th December each local authority will cut off supply in one of four designated areas in each authority area from 7pm to 7am next morning.
This cut-off will be for each area in turn so that, in effect, each area will only be affected every 4th day.
Every household has sufficient supply for up to 12 hours minimum from roof-tanks installed according to water byelaws. So the minimum of inconvenience should be experienced if people use water supplies responsibly and plan for the non-supply period.
The Council will be emphasising the normal "conserve water" advice notices on their website, but are reluctant to over-emphasise the need to conserve water as this, regrettably, had the opposite effect when used in the same context in January. So far there has been relatively few watermain bursts. A sudden thaw may bring an onset of these bursts and resultant pressure on our staff to repair them.
Transportation staff, supplemented by staff from the Parks and Environment divisions endeavour to keep roads, rail stations and transport nodes, hospital access and school crossings accessible. The level of work involved here has been considerable, as will the water cut-offs for Water Services staff who will attend before and after the cut-off and resumption of supply.