IRISH WATER HAS repaired the burst pipe overnight that caused water outages in many areas in Dublin yesterday.
Regional Asset Operations Manager with Irish Water, Margaret Attridge told Morning Ireland that a fitting on top of the pipe, that was laid 40 years ago, was “sheared off”.
The Operations Manager told the programme that crews got to the pipe around 6pm yesterday and managed to get it repaired around midnight last night.
While pressure continues to build in the pipes again, households are advised to run their taps until the water is clear as there could still be some discoloration in the network.
Attridge said there is no requirement to boil the water and that the water is safe to drink once it is flowing clearly from a tap.
Typically it takes two to three hours following restoration time for water to refill the networks and normal supply to be fully restored.
A spokesperson for Irish Water said: “Following the repairs, it takes several hours for normal water supply to return to all customers due to the size of Dublin’s network, especially for those on higher ground or at the end of the impacted network. ”
Attridge said despite the age of the pipe it was “quite a strong pipe” and the water company had feared that the damage was more extensive than originally thought, and that repairs could last “at least another 24 hours”.
Attridge said: “[Crews] started restoring pressure around two or three o’clock this morning.”
A significant and high-pressure water main burst in Dublin’s south inner city and the supply was turned off while the issue was being resolved.
Joe O’Reilly of Irish Water said: “I would like to thank the specialist water services crews in Dublin City Council for their dedication and expertise and for working throughout the night to limit the impact on customers and successfully complete the repairs.
“In addition, thanks to the residents in the area for their patience and understanding as we worked through the night on the repairs,” O’Reilly added.
Around 40,000 properties, including homes and businesses, were impacted by the outage.
Customers in the following areas may be impacted by reduced water pressure and/or water outages until the main is full restored:
One councillor in the Artane-Whitehall area said yesterday that they were receiving a high number of calls regarding outages in the Edenmore, Raheny and Artane areas.
Another councillor in Clontarf said they had a water supply, but that it was running brown.
Irish water arranged alternative water supplies in key locations across Dublin which closed at 9am this morning.
The Irish Water customer care helpline is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278 and customers can also contact us on Twitter @IWCare with any queries.
Additional reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill
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