Request for review of water pressure valves

A review of water pressure valves recently installed by Uisce Éireann in parts of the county has been called for by a county councillor.

Cllr Emer Kelly told the July meeting of Roscommon County Council that the issue is causing significant disruption to household technology and resulting in increased costs on households due to low water pressure.

“This is an issue I wanted to raise here today, and this has become apparent particularly in areas of South Roscommon, but I’m assuming it’s happening in other parts of the county as well,” said Cllr. Kelly. “As of late, it’s happening in areas where Uisce Éireann has installed water pressure valves along pipelines, and it’s resulting in a significant decrease in water pressure coming into households. This is leading to an excessive stress on plumbing and causing damage to household appliances such as heating systems, washing machines, showers, etc. and in some cases, the machines aren’t actually able to run on the low water pressure, and it’s particularly happening in areas where there might be connections taken off, maybe for water troughs for farms or cattle or animals in fields,” she said.

Cllr Kelly said from her own personal experience, Uisce Éireann is very slow to respond, and just sends back a generic response that’s taken from data. She claimed the company is not “actually understanding what’s happening on the ground”.

“I’d be very happy to second that proposal for Cllr Kelly, on an excellent notice of motion, and it’s something that’s come to my attention on numerous occasions in relation to the pressure for water going into households,” said Cllr Marty McDermott. “But I suppose, in particular, too, in the farming community, especially with the extra warm weather.” Cllr Paschal Fitzmaurice said it’s affecting people on a daily basis and it’s very frustrating for them.

“It gets complicated where Uisce Éireann, in high ground, puts in pressure valves to drive water up to those high areas, and sometimes people then can be affected in other areas by it and I suppose there might be a bit of fear that it’s too high a pressure and it will cause a lot of bursts in the area, which we’ve seen in certain places,” he said.

Cllr Tony Ward said there is a major issue in relation to carrying out repairs, and it’s not the problem for Roscommon County Council, but it is a major problem for Uisce Éireann because the service can be out for three or five or six hours.

“I would support the motion, but I would hope with an agreement from Cllr Kelly that we write to the minister involved in relation to an upgrade, because this is happening on a regular basis,” said Cllr Ward.

Cllr Laurence Fallon said one of the things which has deteriorated, is the urgency of getting to small emergencies right across the county.

“This idea of the central reporting system doesn’t work that well on identifying a small road somewhere in South Roscommon or Mid-West Roscommon, wherever you are, and I think Uisce Éireann needs to get back to a situation where, in every municipal area, the company has a lead who can be contacted when there’s an emergency,” he said.

Cllr Sean Moylan said that “Uisce Éireann is virtually impossible to get through to, to get to do anything, and I think there is a lot of merit in this (motion).” “I fully want to support, and I think nearly everything has been said, so I’m not going to repeat it,” said Cllr. Valerie Byrne.

Cllr Larry Brennan, Cllr Leah Cull, and Cllr Michael Frain also supported, as did Cllr. Tom Crosby, who said there needs to be sanctions put in place against Uisce Éireann, like in the event of a washing machine or dishwasher breaking down as a result of a sudden drop in pressure, “Then Uisce Éireann should be held accountable,” said Cllr. Crosby.

*Published as part of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.