Push for more generators in Leitrim to prevent water supply disruptions
Sinn Féin councillor Róisín Kenny urged Leitrim County Council to work with Uisce Éireann to ensure access to a sufficient number of mobile generators in the event of another major outage.
Power and water outages during Storm Éowyn have led to calls for better preparedness from companies like Uisce Éireann and ESB in event of another severe storm.
One recurring request is for Uisce Éireann to have additional generators available to prevent disruptions to water supply.
On January 30 - almost a week after many households lost water - Uisce Éireann reported that it had deployed and installed generators at nearly all feasible plants, pumping stations and reservoirs.
Cllr Róisín Kenny has urged Leitrim County Council to work with Uisce Éireann to ensure access to a sufficient number of mobile generators to ensure that power is maintained at pumping stations in the area in the event of power outages.
At a meeting of Ballinamore Municipal District, she highlighted the case of a Coraleehan resident who was without power for two weeks, and had to transport water for animals, calling the situation “unacceptable.”
“I think the main problem was there were no mobile generators at the rural pumping stations,” Cllr Kenny.
“I’d encourage Irish Water to have a stock they can hire out or that they could use in the event of this happening again.”
Cllr Kenny’s motion has been forwarded to Uisce Éireann for consideration.
Uisce Éireann have stated, “Uisce Eireann has full responsibility for the operation and maintenance of Water and Wastewater Treatment Plants, Reservoirs, Pump stations and Networks under the Framework for the Future Delivery of Water Services published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage June 2022.”