Water shortages in Dublin

[Capt Pat]

Does anyone know anything about these. When are they going to come to an end? There is very little information about this.

[Bing Crosby .]

Wish I could help you there Capt but I'm sorry I can't . Nothing worse than that . I hope they get it flowing again asap for those poor misfortunes . I suppose the reason the nation hasn't heard much about is because they're trying to keep this under wraps because it's so embarrassing for the authorities . This day and age and that .

[mc_grens]

There was something in the paper yesterday about them not being able to predict where or when they need to turn down the pressure.

It's a right royal pain in the hole.

[lynchbhoy]

There was something in the paper yesterday about them not being able to predict where or when they need to turn down the pressure.

It's a right royal pain in the hole.

I said it before - there is no plan B for anything in this country. We are still a nation of shamrock swinging mucksavages. Theres hardly a plan A !

Did the water go off where you are ? We were ok - two nights had reduced pressure but no problems !
Also- did you get my text yesterday! Get that sorted out!

[Trevor Hill]

Get everyone to fill a bucket of water and take it to your local reservoir on their way to work. That should solve the problem.

[mc_grens]

There was something in the paper yesterday about them not being able to predict where or when they need to turn down the pressure.

It's a right royal pain in the hole.

I said it before - there is no plan B for anything in this country. We are still a nation of shamrock swinging mucksavages. Theres hardly a plan A !

Did the water go off where you are ? We were ok - two nights had reduced pressure but no problems !
Also- did you get my text yesterday! Get that sorted out!

Water never went off completely, but reduced pressure a few nights alright. I decided last Wednesday that enough was enough and took myself off home to civilisation to enjoy the running water and such like.

Got the text. Message passed on to the appropriate people.

[lynchbhoy]

There was something in the paper yesterday about them not being able to predict where or when they need to turn down the pressure.

It's a right royal pain in the hole.

I said it before - there is no plan B for anything in this country. We are still a nation of shamrock swinging mucksavages. Theres hardly a plan A !

Did the water go off where you are ? We were ok - two nights had reduced pressure but no problems !
Also- did you get my text yesterday! Get that sorted out!

Water never went off completely, but reduced pressure a few nights alright. I decided last Wednesday that enough was enough and took myself off home to civilisation to enjoy the running water and such like.

Got the text. Message passed on to the appropriate people.

sorry about that !!
the stuff they had was superb,but theres none of it left only cheap oul gear (the stuff I am talking about was not exp either)
thanks !

[the Deel Rover]

ah sure who care about the water shortage tis only Dublin  the text message seems far more interesting

[Capt Pat]

I think what happened is that the Dublin water supply comes from up the mountains and it froze so much that there were massive leaks. Initially they tried blaming people for leaving the taps on to stop their pipes from freezing. They let all the water flow out of the resevoir into the leaks. They are now saying that the water supplies in the resevoirs is very low as if we had a drout for the last 6 months.

[An Gaeilgoir]

The main issue is that up to 40 percent of all the water processed leaks away before it reaches the end user. Another fine examle of public sector incompetence and to top it all off we will not be charged for it. Get the leaks down to 10 percent maximum and then charge for it. I was on a job in Dublin Airport during the freeze, there was a 100mm mains water pipe burst out there running at 3 bar pressure for two days, yet no urgency on the part of the DAA or any one else to get it fixed. A lot of household taps would be running for a long time to use up that amount of water. The householder gets blamed and screwed for everything while the people in charge get away with their incompetency day in day out. Where are the millions in development levies gone paid in the last ten years gone? That money would fix a lot of water pipes.

[Declan]

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.

[muppet]

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.

The early stages of planning! Imagine if the property & economic boom had continued? When did they decide that maybe they might need to start planning a new supply? It seems to me that these incompetents were saved by the crash.