Households served by the Lough Mourne Supply are likely to experience disruption to services tonight, with people across the county urged to conserve water as much as possible. The following is the text of a statement issued by Donegal County Council.
Donegal County Council continue to record an increase in demand on a number of water supplies in the county coinciding with the current cold weather conditions. We suspect the increased demand for water arises from
- taps left running
- burst mains which have not yet been located
- leakage in private properties
The Water Service in Donegal wish to appeal to the public to help us eliminate such wastage. This will help save water stored in reservoirs and avoid further shortages throughout the county .
With the experience from the widespread disruption last winter we are highlighting the following areas in particular where the public can help eliminate wastage of the public water supply:
Running taps – please avoid leaving taps running. This is counter productive and will run down available water in storage
Burst mains / leakage – any suspected leaks on watermains or wastage should be reported to the County Council at your local public services centre.
Vacant properties – please continue to check vacant properties where internal plumbing may be damaged by freezing conditions. Ideally the water supply to vacant buildings should be turned off and systems drained of all water, e.g. where members of the public who are going on holiday during the coming months, we would recommend that they turn off the water supply to their premises and drain all water out of the system before leaving the property.
Farming Community – we ask that you check all field connections and turn off leaking drinking troughs. This has proven to be a serious problem in rural areas in recent years. We also ask for your assistance in checking for burst pipes in farm buildings and burst hoses laying over ground. Essentially anywhere on the farm that water may be lost
Caravan Parks – another area that is often remote where plumbing may be exposed and water losses can be slow to appear, we appeal to all caravan park owners to turn off the water supply to eliminate wastage.
Once again the co-operation of every community is required if we are to avert widespread shortages in water supplies
Interruptions to water supplies
Demand has increased particularly in the following areas which may lead to disruptions to supply over the weekend:
- Rosses, Gweedore, Carrigart and Downings area.
Planned Restrictions ( Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th December 2010)
The following areas will be restricted from 10.00pm overnight until 8.00am
LOUGH MOURNE WATER SUPPLY
-
Tievebrack, Ballinacor, Gleneely, Castlefin, Lifford, Ballyholey and Liscooley.
