Westmeath County Council refuse to help with frozen pipes

Garth

None yet. We've only had water for a day and a half since Xmas day. Ardleigh.

daytrader

Garth wrote: »

Ours has been gone since they turned it off last night. 3 council guys came out -- 2 watching one work. Like a friggin cartoon.

Turns out last council guy who was out forgot to replace the styrofoam plug above the pipe, which is probably why it froze.

Also I looked it up and those pipes are supposed to be over 2 feet down. Ours are about 12 inches down. No wonder they're freezing.

Yep, seen the boys yesterday with the foam and the saw! Came in 2 vans too!

daytrader

Current Water Situation 3rd January 2010 16.45pm
Westmeath County Council wish to advise the public that water supplies are being turned off from 8pm this evening, 3rd January 2010 in most areas of Mullingar and the hinterlands.
Supplies will begin to be turned back on in the morning from 7am, 4th January 2010.

Most areas have had water suspended each night this week between 8pm and 8am.
Our phones are being manned from 9am to 5pm each day and emergency numbers available when 044-9332000 is rang after hours.
Please report any leaks or burst water mains immediately.

Consumers are thanked for their patience in this and asked to minimise their usage of water.

http://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/latestnews/title,4553,en.html

Iomega Man

I just wonder....
When we are ALL on water meters,will there be a problem like this..?

Nope,I don't think so

youngblood

Gettin a little fed up with the Council and the water stopages? If the cold snap is set to continue like forecast, can we expect this to last till Mid January?

jigglywoo

daytrader wrote: »

Current Water Situation 3rd January 2010 16.45pm
Westmeath County Council wish to advise the public that water supplies are being turned off from 8pm this evening, 3rd January 2010 in most areas of Mullingar and the hinterlands.
Supplies will begin to be turned back on in the morning from 7am, 4th January 2010.

Most areas have had water suspended each night this week between 8pm and 8am.
Our phones are being manned from 9am to 5pm each day and emergency numbers available when 044-9332000 is rang after hours.
Please report any leaks or burst water mains immediately.

Consumers are thanked for their patience in this and asked to minimise their usage of water.

http://www.westmeathcoco.ie/en/latestnews/title,4553,en.html

Did they put a notice out on the radio or was it just on their website? We hadn't a clue they were gonna turn the water off for the last couple of nights, someone in our house had to find out the hard way while in the shower.
Our water hasn't been gone apart from night time.

Garth

My problem with the stoppages is this.

Because our pipes are obviously not low enough in the ground, the only way we can prevent burst/frozen pipes is to leave a tap dripping. Ok I know this is not environmentally sound, but I'm not the inspector in charge of checking ot make sure these things are done right in the first place.

So because we were all leaving our pipes dripping they say they have to turn off the water. That leaves water sitting in pipes during the coldest hours of the night, and basically ensuring none of us will get our water back until the weather warms up substantially, and we'll continue to lose it whenever it dips below zero.

Their emergency phone wasn't manned and it took us 4 days to even let the council know this was going on.

When someone finally came out to look at it (and do nothing), they didn't replace the insulation and essentially caused our second water outage.

This is costing us a fortune in electricity (using space heaters) and taking all our spare time ferrying bottles of water from friends' houses home, so we can do crazy things like clean ourselves and flush the toilets.

The council is just ignoring this problem entirely and punishing those of us affected by turning off the water -- without notifying anyone, I might add.

What's going to happen? Are developers going to be told to rectify the depth of the pipes?

How long will they tolerate people going without basic facilities in their homes? We've been out of water for about 8 days since xmas day although we did have water for a day in the middle.

daytrader

This is costing us a fortune in electricity (using space heaters)

You should still be able to use your heat? The water in the radiators is a closed circuit.

daytrader

They are updating the website all week after getting much pressure for them too do so. Not sure about the local radio, don't listen to it.

Garth

Our system seems to be fed directly from the mains. As soon as they turn off the water/the pipes freeze, our heating goes.

We do have a fireplace, but that's just one room in a four bedroom house. All I want right now is a freakin shower.

daytrader

oil or gas? cant see why you cant heat the rads? the hot water circuit from boiler to rads should not empty, off course you have no shower as it's mains water and all is gone.

kopfan09

No probs with the water supply here in Raithin.

Garth

We used to have to top up our system when it dropped pressure every couple of months... there was a slow leak somewhere. BUt ever since the water probs, it drops pressure within hours of us losing water.

I'm so cold! And so bloody sick of this I might just march down to the council today and have a nice long, warm chat with them. While I'm there, I'll wash my hands use the loo and maybe even wash my hair in their sink.

outeverynite

I've just been onto the Council and they said that water was back on...I said it hadn't been as we've had 2 days water since Christmas Day and not a peep out of it since. They asked did I throw hot water down on the stop valve (don't know if this is right term) thingy and I said yes. They then asked had neighbours got water. I said no. If this is developers fault what are we going to do? The estate hasn't been put into ownership of the council and the estate to date hasn't been finished off as per plans. I cant live with water being taken off us ever time there is a bit of frost...:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: INCREDIBLY ANGRY

Garth

I think you may have been talking to them when I was there in person.

I actually broke down in tears. NINE days! Nothing they can do, apparently.

After I stayed, and cried and gave out, she rang someone and said there's going to be a "stand pipe" that will provide us a place to get water put out our end of town, and also they're organising access to the swimming pool so we can shower.

I want to hear that someone's taking the developer to task over not burying the pipes low enough.

Themadhouse

The problem with the heating is that it's gas and is fed from the mains. If it gets cold out the pressure drops for some strange reason. It seems to be a common problem. If the pressure drops and we have no water we cant feed it. I was with them complaining on thurs morn and will be back again on wed morn. Sick of it!

mandz

I live in Gleann Petit out the Dublin Road and its a similar story with our house. Again I think our pipes are not down low enough as the houses either side of my house have water and as far as I know the house directly across the road is having similar probs to us. Landlord got water going last week but it appears that when the council cut the water the water in the pipe outside froze so were back to square one. This 8-8 timing is awful too. Even if we had water by the time I get home from work I'd just make it for a shower (provided no hold ups on the train) and I'm up too early to have one in the mornings.

Only bright side I can see is that I've no choice but to get myself out to Bloomfield now and burn off the crimbo pounds so I can have a shower!!

Garth wrote: »

I might have to see do the gyms to temporary memberships. Can't work out at home because I can't shower afterwards.

Garth you should try Bloomfield I think they do short term ones.

daytrader

Are you sure the pressure dropped? The gas boiler will read 0 psi when off, it runs between .2 and 2 psi when turned on. Maybe you do have a leak but your rads water would be in your system for a long time unless the mains was topping it up due to a leak, you'd find it hard to heat a house then as you'd be constantly heating cold mains water. Just my 2p worth. I also think every house should off being provided with full electical and plumbing diagrams.

daytrader

Maybe that should be .2 bar not psi

Themadhouse

The pressure gauge on the boiler reads 1.5 ish, it stays more or less the same all the time. The gauge in the hotpress reads 0, this is the one we keep an eye on.
Quite a few of the houses on the road have the same problem with the pressure drop when the water goes.

daytrader

Your heating circuit in your house is a closed circuit and would only be opened to top up water pressure, this pressure is on the gas boiler. This is independent off your running hot water circuit which is mains fed but is heated in the cycliner by the closed circuit. I can only presume the gauge on your cylinder is to measure the running hot water and you've no hot water so the pressure in the cylinder is zero. Now i may be corrected. But a lot off people wont turn their heat on and it should be ok? The water in your radiator system is in a loop and will just go round and round even if the water is off. Off course it wont heat your cylinder for a shower as no mains water is going into that part off the cylinder to be heated. Anyway bottom line here is were all in fairly new houses, estates and were not in the coldest countries in the world, this should never off happened.

daytrader

Current Water Situation 6th January 2010, 11.30am
Westmeath County Council wish to advise that water supplies will once again be turned off from 8pm this evening, 5th January 2010 in most areas of Mullingar and the hinterlands.
Supplies will begin to be turned back on from 7am, in the morning 6th January 2010.

It is envisaged that this process will continue for as long as the current cold snap continues.

Our phones are being manned from 9am to 5pm each day and emergency numbers are available when 044-9332000 is rang after hours.

Ciar0468

Garth wrote: »

My problem with the stoppages is this.

Because our pipes are obviously not low enough in the ground, the only way we can prevent burst/frozen pipes is to leave a tap dripping. Ok I know this is not environmentally sound, but I'm not the inspector in charge of checking ot make sure these things are done right in the first place.

So because we were all leaving our pipes dripping they say they have to turn off the water. That leaves water sitting in pipes during the coldest hours of the night, and basically ensuring none of us will get our water back until the weather warms up substantially, and we'll continue to lose it whenever it dips below zero.

Their emergency phone wasn't manned and it took us 4 days to even let the council know this was going on.

When someone finally came out to look at it (and do nothing), they didn't replace the insulation and essentially caused our second water outage.

This is costing us a fortune in electricity (using space heaters) and taking all our spare time ferrying bottles of water from friends' houses home, so we can do crazy things like clean ourselves and flush the toilets.

The council is just ignoring this problem entirely and punishing those of us affected by turning off the water -- without notifying anyone, I might add.

What's going to happen? Are developers going to be told to rectify the depth of the pipes?

How long will they tolerate people going without basic facilities in their homes? We've been out of water for about 8 days since xmas day although we did have water for a day in the middle.

We are having the exact same problem in Ard Grainne in Moate. We are fed from the Mullingar Water Supply too.

Our pipes are about 3inches underground in some places. What I am so angry about is that the council allowed these houses to be conencted to the mains in the first time. In my situation, the woman on the helpline in the council office told me that "the pipes are lying High in the Ground in Ard Grainne". This to me would suggest that the council are fully aware that the pipes are not laid to regulation standards.

I have been emailing the council as well as multiple council members and the newspapers of the situation.

Who is now going to pay to get these pipes dug up and laid deeper? It was the resposibility of the Westmeath County Council to inspect the work and test the pipes before allowing connection to a mains water supply. I have raised this issue with them. They have not denied this but instead responed with reference to the maintenance of pipework after coneection to the mains. They have not commented on the inspection process or regulations that they enforced before allowing any of these estates to be conencted to the mains.

I think we need to take some form of action to ensure the council take responsibility for their handling of the inspection and regulaton of all of these newly built estates.

Although it is the builders fault for initially installing the pipes at this level.
It is of course the fault of the council who allowed these houses to be connected to the mains in the first place that we are all without water.

Our plummer has a temporary soloution: it is to access the mains supply to our house and add an extra pipe, feed the extra pipe into our mains feed at the sink. To do this we will need to remove some of the pavement around the manhole at the front of our door. We can Lagg the pipe and hope it wont freeze, but if it does we can deforst it as it is above ground.
We cant leave it dripping to prevent it freezing as the water is turned off every night.

As a result we are wasting much more water, pouring over frozen pipes as a result of these water cuts at night than we would by leaving a tap dripping.

How do the minds of the council work? Its obviously not logical anyways.

dizzydiesel

This is a joke. Got home from work today - still no water. The pipes freeze at the mains stop-cock overnight and doesn't thaw out during the day.

No water now :-(

dragona

Anyone in Mullingar with water? I live by the canal opposite Loreto, and have not had a problem.

Themadhouse

I called down yest again to complain. I got to speak to a chap who said he would send someone out but no one came. This time i was angry because of the incompetence of the first council guy who didn't put the styro back in hence the pipe froze at minus 3. He said the pipes shouldn't freeze at that temp when they are 18 inches down. Mine are 14. I.m going to c what way willie pemrose runs his clinic to see if i can get to chat with him and see what he advises.

mandz

dizzydiesel wrote: »

This is a joke. Got home from work today - still no water. The pipes freeze at the mains stop-cock overnight and doesn't thaw out during the day.

No water now :-(

Same thing happened us in our house. We've only had water for two days (if that) since Christmas and that's only because the Landlord was home for Christmas and probably dragged they guys over with her to take the ice out. Council cut the water and whole thing froze again. Fed up at this stage as most of the neighbours have water.

dragona wrote: »

Anyone in Mullingar with water? I live by the canal opposite Loreto, and have not had a problem.

Council are not cutting the water in the centre of town just the outskirts and country supplies.:mad:

Themadhouse

Where does our main water supply come from in mullingar? Is any other council switching off water at night does anyone know?

Ciar0468

Hi all,

An update on my progress:

Plummer came, cut open pavement, opened pipe, NO WATER. Opened mains on road, FROZEN. No styrofoam or any other form on insulation down there either. Plumer says pipes may be frozen under road or pavement. Nobody knows for how far.

There is no chance of me getting any water back at all.
This is because :
1: The Builders did not lay the pipes deep enough.
2: The Council did not check the work before connecting to the mains as they are required to do.
3:Even if i can thaw the pipes out by use of heat torch or other means, my pipes will freeze again at night because the council are turning the water off.

I am so angry that I and a lot of other people are without water as a direct result of the council turning the water supply off at night.

I dont understand how they can be allowed to make a decision like that.

mandz

Themadhouse wrote: »

Where does our main water supply come from in mullingar? Is any other council switching off water at night does anyone know?

Think Leitrim Co. Co. are doing the same but I think they have also supplied a water tanker if I'm remembering correctly.