Water Issues in North County Dublin

AceCard Jones

I'm in Skerries and I still haven't got water back. crótach, when you say the water is not at normal pressure, it is running at all or just filling up the tank? I can't run the cold water tap in the kitchen, no water at all. It would seem I'm still relying on what's in the tank...

Lady Davenport

Few tips for getting rid of air locks when you water comes back, as per fingal county council:

Getting Rid of Airlocks

Following a disruption to Water Supply some households may get airlocks in their internal plumbing system. The airlock is generally in the hot water system and most likely the result of faulty internal plumbing.

This is what to do if you get an air lock:-

Firstly make sure all hot taps in the house are in the closed position. Then either proceed with option 1 or 2. Step 3 applies to both.

1. If the hot and cold taps in the kitchen are separate i.e. not combined in a mixer tap, the hot tap should be turned on. If there is an airlock, no water will come from the hot tap. A short length of hose should be used to connect the hot and cold taps in the kitchen only. Turning on the cold tap will result in the cold water being forced through the hot water system and this will force the air which is causing the airlock back into the water tank in the attic.

OR

2. If there is a mixer tap in the kitchen, the hot tap should be turned on. With a cloth in your hand (to help reduce water squirting out) block the mixer tap and turn on the cold water tap gently. This should force the cold water back through the hot water system, forcing the air into the water tank in the attic. Care should be exercised when doing this in case of accidental scalding with hot water.

3. Let this run for 1 – 2 minutes, then turn off the cold tap and let the hot tap run for 1 – 2 minutes to confirm that the air lock is cleared. If the air lock is not cleared, repeat the procedure one or two times more. If this is not successful, contact a plumber and get them to correct the problem.

In rare cases the cold water taps in wash hand basins or the bath may also be air locked. This procedure will also work for them, but is more difficult as a long length of hose is necessary from the kitchen cold tap to the nearest wash hand basin or bath tap.

Lady Davenport

Never thought I'd say it, but this water business has turned me into a Twitter convert

Tweet just in saying water back in most of Skerries. Still working on leaks in Garristown.

Edit: Tweets flying in -

Fingalcoco Reservoir too low for water to come back in high areas
of Skerries, high areas of Balbriggan or areas around Ardgillan.

Fingalcoco Reservoir too low to provide water for Balrothery, Man-
O-War, Baldongan, Hedgestown or Walshestown

Fingalcoco Lanesborough will have temporary water supply until
7.30 tonight and again from 7am to 9am tomorrow

Fingalcoco Major burst in St. Margarets/Kileek. Repairs underway

Fingalcoco Most of Howth should have water apart from Howth
Summit and othe high areas.

Fingalcoco Ballyboughal/Naul/Hollywood area. Reservoir not filling
due to major burst. Repairs underway. Unlikely to have water tonight

AceCard Jones

I rang the council just there, and was told that the water should return to all areas of Skerries by tonight. So just a waiting game at the minute.

rovers2001

Hi Guys.

Is it still ok to use central heating in the house (gas)with no water.Is the water already in the radiators?
My wife asked me to ask this question:rolleyes:

Beasty

rovers2001 wrote: »

Hi Guys.

Is it still ok to use central heating in the house (gas)with no water.Is the water already in the radiators?
My wife asked me to ask this question:rolleyes:

Should be fine - the water will already be in the heating system - it just gets topped up from the normal water system when required

rovers2001

Cheers thanks alot for that.

Beasty

Hopefully we will get our water back on in Milverton some time tomorrow. Milverton school remains closed, and expects to re-open on Monday (at least they had a couple of days in this week - if Batty O'Keefe had not backed down on Monday they would have had a full week to catch-up)

crótach

AceCard Jones wrote: »

I'm in Skerries and I still haven't got water back. crótach, when you say the water is not at normal pressure, it is running at all or just filling up the tank? I can't run the cold water tap in the kitchen, no water at all. It would seem I'm still relying on what's in the tank...

It's running fine, just not at a reduced flow. And it's filling up the tank.

We're pretty low down in Kelly's Bay, the news said that the areas higher up around Skerries are still out, and areas around Ardgillan castle

Lady Davenport

Have running water here in
Balrothery, on the hill! :eek:

projectmayhem

Water is back here too. Everyone's had their showers, clothes are in the wash and so on. We're still keeping our stuff filled with emergency water because frankly, I've no faith in DCC to keep the water going.

Checkerle

Clonshaugh:
Still no water here, the second day now! and the before only for some hours ...

That´s ridiculus, feeling like in a 3rd world country ...

Alan Farrell

Checkerle wrote: »

Clonshaugh:
Still no water here, the second day now! and the before only for some hours ...

That´s ridiculus, feeling like in a 3rd world country ...

Isn't Clonshaugh in Dublin 5?

Checkerle

Alan Farrell wrote: »

Isn't Clonshaugh in Dublin 5?

Nope, 17 (it´s near M50 / N32)

Beasty

Checkerle wrote: »

Nope, 17 (it´s near M50 / N32)

DCC press release shows Clonshaugh on their list of areas with low/no water

padair

Alright Folks,
I am pretty stumped on this. I live on Caple Street and I have had no water for the last seven days. How is it that some places on my street have water and we have none.

Padair.

The Hill Billy

padair wrote: »

Alright Folks,
I am pretty stumped on this. I live on Caple Street and I have had no water for the last seven days. How is it that some places on my street have water and we have none.

Padair.

You'd be better off asking in the Dublin City forum.

padair

Hill Billy wrote: »

You'd be better off asking in the Dublin City forum.

Thanks.
P.

lostexpectation

Beasty wrote: »

Should be fine - the water will already be in the heating system - it just gets topped up from the normal water system when required

i didn't think it was ok what happens when theres no water to top up?

Jonathan

lostexpectation wrote: »

i didn't think it was ok what happens when there no water to top up?

You'd have a much bigger problem on your plate because you'd then have a pretty major leak in one your radiators.

Beasty

lostexpectation wrote: »

i didn't think it was ok what happens when theres no water to top up?

As Jonathan alluded to, your system (and in particular the radiators) already have water in them. A lot of the time the radiators are not actually full (which is why they need to be bled occassionally). Hence the system can operate perfectly well with less that a full capacity of water

If you have any concerns you really should speak to a plumber (I am certainly no expert in this area, but a lot of it is common sense and experience from messing about on a DIY basis)

Alan Farrell

Most of you might know of the daily notices from the council. Here is this evenings.

EMERGENCY WATER SUPPLY UPDATE 5pm Monday 18th January

Water pressure will be reduced in all areas in the coming days, from 10pm each night until 6am the following morning to allow reservoirs to fill.
Tankers and standpipes will provide emergency water supplies today while demand exists at the following locations:

Naul Village - (The Square) Tanker

Garristown Inn - Standpipe

Unexpected local problems with bursts, airlocks or pumps may mean that some areas do not get a water supply back at the time estimated here.

Ring Commons/Naul area - water supply still disrupted in homes on higher ground. Tanker on site until 8pm.

Garristown area - Garristown Village should have water. Small number of homes still affected by a burst watermain has low pressure or no supply. Standpipe at Garristown Inn.

Howth Summit - reservoir levels low this evening. Should recover overnight. Local disruption on high ground.

Continuing water conservation in the coming days is the key to allowing our reservoirs to refill and to restore a water supply across Fingal. The Council will have to continue to restrict water supply at night throughout the weekend and into next week.

Ginny

TBH its getting silly, I'm being told there no problems in Swords, we have really really
low pressure every night and barely any water, by the time its morning theres nadda, and it's not at 6am, we leave at 8am and we still have nadda.
But according to Fin CoCo. we're fine, and there no tankers in Swords, looks like I'll be travelling out to Meakstown for water tomorrow.
I know other people have it a lot worse with no water at all, but to be told there's no problem when I can see there no water is annoying.

Alan Farrell

Ginny wrote: »

TBH its getting silly, I'm being told there no problems in Swords, we have really really
low pressure every night and barely any water, by the time its morning theres nadda, and it's not at 6am, we leave at 8am and we still have nadda.
But according to Fin CoCo. we're fine, and there no tankers in Swords, looks like I'll be travelling out to Meakstown for water tomorrow.
I know other people have it a lot worse with no water at all, but to be told there's no problem when I can see there no water is annoying.

Have you called the Council, or one of your public reps?

Ginny

Yup called the council, they sent an inspector out and said our estate levels were fine, they are fine in the middle of the day but it's night-time and mornings when they're lacking.
Although this morning it was on a very low pressure so was useable for breakfast, so hopefully it is restoring gradually.

cw_consumer

Hi guys, if any of you are still without water, or terribly low pressure, you could drop me a PM.


Thanks,

Conor

rferguson

Has anyone noticed a weird Smell/ Taste from the water in the rush area since all this kicked off? Any ideas what it is?

Alan Farrell

Ginny wrote: »

Yup called the council, they sent an inspector out and said our estate levels were fine, they are fine in the middle of the day but it's night-time and mornings when they're lacking.
Although this morning it was on a very low pressure so was useable for breakfast, so hopefully it is restoring gradually.

I'm guessing that the overnight low pressure is affecting you more than others. The council have said that low pressure could last until next week. You might have some sort of air lock, might be worth while doing a quick poll of neighbours to see if they are the same.

Its really unacceptable to have to put up with water shortages in the middle of winter and following flooding just two months ago. I won't point any fingers but major investment needed right across the county.

An Citeog

Here's a letter published in the Irish Times on Wednesday about the water shortages in Fingal and the greater Dublin area.

Dealing with water shortages

Madam, – As one of those responsible for the supply of drinking-water in the Dublin region, I would like to address some issues.

As to why it may take four months to fully rectify the situation, you first have to understand the “normal” water supply situation in the area.

The Dublin region, consisting of the four Dublin county councils, Kildare, northern Wicklow and a small part of Co Meath, is supplied with drinking-water from one common network. Four main water-treatment plants provide the bulk of drinking water to this network.

Three of these plants are operated by Dublin City Council, and one by Fingal County Council.

The combined maximum output of these plants is 540-550 million litres per day. Under normal circumstances, the average demand in the region is 530-540 million litres per day. So, on an average day, we would have 2-4 per cent spare capacity.

This means we have to operate our plants at 96 per cent capacity, or more, almost every day of the year.

Compare this to Paris, where water is supplied by three major treatment plants, each operating at about 50 per cent capacity.

To address the lack of spare treatment capacity, Dublin City Council is expanding its plant at Ballymore Eustace (which will provide extra water later this year) and Fingal County Council is about to go to tender for an expansion of its plant at Leixlip (which will provide extra water in about two years).

However, the region will still need further extra capacity to cater for situations like this – and to cater for a long hot summer, if we ever get one.

Dublin City Council is in the early stages of planning a new major water source for the region, but the earliest this would be operational is five to 10 years’ time, due to the procurement hurdles it will have to cross.

No matter how much rain falls and finds its way into the lakes and rivers, these water-treatment plants have a maximum capacity. Like any food factory, they can only produce a certain amount of product every day, no matter how much raw material is available.

In the days leading up to the weekend of January 9th-10th, demand on the system increased to about 570 million litres per day. Over that weekend, demand continued to rise, hitting a record 628 million litres per day on the Sunday.

This was due to a combination of extra leaks in the pipe network (caused by frost heave), and the fact that some people left their taps running in an effort to prevent frozen pipes.

This resulted in very low levels at the treated-water reservoirs, with demand far outstripping capacity.

As a consequence, we were left with no option but to restrict supplies to allow reservoirs to recover.

This restriction will have to continue until (a) we recover water in the treated-water reservoirs; and (b) find and fix enough leaks to bring the demand down to the “normal” level.

As the thaw has now come, we expect that people will not feel the need to run taps any more, so this element of demand should correct itself.

Fixing leaks is not a problem for Fingal and the other councils. However, contrary to popular belief, finding the leaks is the major problem.

Many leaks occur and flow away for days, weeks and even months without announcing their presence, ie where water is showing above ground. Those that do are quickly spotted and fixed, usually within 24 hours.

Finding the backlog of leaks may take up to four months. However, we expect to have found and fixed enough of them to stabilise the situation and restore normal supplies to the region within a few weeks.

I hope that this aids people’s understanding of the situation.

Separately, the letter from Mr Kehoe (January 16th) regarding dishwashers is quite correct: proper use of dishwashers and washing-machines can help save water.

That is why, at Fingal council, we suggest only putting on dishwashers and washing-machines when you have a full load. – Yours, etc,

LAR SPAIN,

Senior Engineer,

Water Services Department,

Fingal County Council.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2010/0120/1224262708768.html

Lady

Anyone else having water issues tonight? I'm in Howth and we have run dry here tonight. First time it has effected us