Repairing broken water pipes is not enough to solve water problems in Galway or anywhere else in the State, what is needed is a complete and total upgrade of the water system throughout the republic.
This is the view of Fine Gael Galway West candidate councillor Brian Walsh, who is calling for local and national Government to make “a significant commitment” to upgrading the 25,000km of water pipeline infrastructure in the State.
“Much of the pipeline is out-of-date broken infrastructure which needs replacing, while large numbers of qualified engineers and construction workers are unemployed,” he said.
Cllr Walsh said “the need for change is obvious”, considering that €1 billion every year is assigned to current and capital expenditure for water treatment and supply and yet “up to 50 per cent of treated water leaks through broken pipes into the ground”.
He also pointed out that the State’s 34 local authorities all have different water management systems to provide water for four million people.
“From a national co-ordination and economy of scale perspective, this is madness,” he said. “We must employ international best practice with a radical overhaul of Irish water policy.”
Over the Christmas period hundreds of homes in city areas such as Shantalla, Maunsells Road, Fana Burca, Fort Lorenzo, Maigh Ard, and Drom Oir, as well as numerous regions in the county, were without water as pipes froze, water pressure dropped, and mains supplies leaked.
As a result, Cllr Walsh is calling for “an entirely new approach to water delivery” for Galway city and county. He said the Galway county and city councils must “look beyond short term needs” such as “patching up broken pipe infrastructure”.
“A new management structure is needed to plan and take responsibility for the efficient and cost-effective delivery of water to homes and businesses in Galway,” he said.
Meanwhile Independent Galway West TD Noel Grealish has called for the re-installation of water meters deeper in the ground.
Dep Grealish has criticised the Galway County Council and water meter installation companies for not installing the meters deep enough to prevent freezing.
“One of the biggest reasons that homeowners lost water supply during the recent cold spell was because their water meters had frozen up and stopped working,” he said.
According to Dep Grealish, British regulations require water meters to be installed at least two foot deep but in Ireland they only go down one foot.
“Given that sub-zero temperatures and severe frost are becoming the norm in Ireland,” he said, “I am requesting that meters are re-installed deeper in the ground to prevent them freezing up and a recurrence of the current problems.”
While many of the problems experienced over December could be attributed to the severe cold snap, Independent councillor and Galway West candidate Catherine Connolly still criticised the Galway City Council’s handling of the water problems as being “simply not good enough”.
She alleged that the first update councillors received in relation to water problems was by email on December 28, “even though the cold spell had started weeks before”. She also said the city council’s website “was not updated in any timely or comprehensive manner”.
Cllr Connolly has called for a debate on the extent of the water leakage in the city and the “apparent difficulties with some of our reservoirs” at next Monday’s city council meeting.
