Are NI Water Fit for Purpose?

[tbrick18]

One of the major problems was that they wouldnt pay staff to work over xmas. I was told a number of times on the phone that they only had skeleton staff working. Now our water went off the day before xmas eve. When I reported it they said that our was actually they only outage they had reported which was due to a burst water main and the rest were private issues so it should get fixed soon. They had some problem finding the source of the burst, which I dont understand as we are in a town and the houses before and after our estate all had water. So our water wasnt fixed on Xmas eve. I was told that the ground was too hard for them to excavate! There must be some crappy diggers in NI Water.
Anyway, the point is, if they had more than a skeleton staff on over Xmas and had fixed the isolated issues when they first started to appear, it would have taken the pressure off when the rest of the outages appeared due to a thaw. The only reason for them not doing this is money. They would have had to pay the engineers more over xmas. So they were happy to let people go without so they could save a quid. Now everyone is suffereing for this ineptitude.

[thebigfella]

One of the major problems was that they wouldnt pay staff to work over xmas. I was told a number of times on the phone that they only had skeleton staff working. Now our water went off the day before xmas eve. When I reported it they said that our was actually they only outage they had reported which was due to a burst water main and the rest were private issues so it should get fixed soon. They had some problem finding the source of the burst, which I dont understand as we are in a town and the houses before and after our estate all had water. So our water wasnt fixed on Xmas eve. I was told that the ground was too hard for them to excavate! There must be some crappy diggers in NI Water.
Anyway, the point is, if they had more than a skeleton staff on over Xmas and had fixed the isolated issues when they first started to appear, it would have taken the pressure off when the rest of the outages appeared due to a thaw. The only reason for them not doing this is money. They would have had to pay the engineers more over xmas. So they were happy to let people go without so they could save a quid. Now everyone is suffereing for this ineptitude.

Not everyone wants to work over christmas, especially people with young families. What would you say if they had offered the double/triple time to their engineers and they turned it down? Are their staff not entitled to Christmas off too?

[Tony Baloney]

One of the major problems was that they wouldnt pay staff to work over xmas. I was told a number of times on the phone that they only had skeleton staff working. Now our water went off the day before xmas eve. When I reported it they said that our was actually they only outage they had reported which was due to a burst water main and the rest were private issues so it should get fixed soon. They had some problem finding the source of the burst, which I dont understand as we are in a town and the houses before and after our estate all had water. So our water wasnt fixed on Xmas eve. I was told that the ground was too hard for them to excavate! There must be some crappy diggers in NI Water.
Anyway, the point is, if they had more than a skeleton staff on over Xmas and had fixed the isolated issues when they first started to appear, it would have taken the pressure off when the rest of the outages appeared due to a thaw. The only reason for them not doing this is money. They would have had to pay the engineers more over xmas. So they were happy to let people go without so they could save a quid. Now everyone is suffereing for this ineptitude.

Not everyone wants to work over christmas, especially people with young families. What would you say if they had offered the double/triple time to their engineers and they turned it down? Are their staff not entitled to Christmas off too?

Erm no-one is "entitled" to a long Christmas holiday. It's up to the company to ensure they have sufficient coverage for the work on their plate. As there was a freeze on during December and a thaw forecast for Christmas week they should have cut their cloth accordingly. Public companies and associated unions don't think of the greater good as long as the workers are happy.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Not everyone wants to work over christmas, especially people with young families.

What about the people with young families and no water? Surely it's more of a concern that those who actually need water takes precedence over those who have the desire to be with their families?

Water should be a 365 days per year commodity (where at all possible), and if (some) employees of NIW are uncomfortable with that thought perhaps they're in the wrong job.

[delboy]

One of the major problems was that they wouldnt pay staff to work over xmas. I was told a number of times on the phone that they only had skeleton staff working. Now our water went off the day before xmas eve. When I reported it they said that our was actually they only outage they had reported which was due to a burst water main and the rest were private issues so it should get fixed soon. They had some problem finding the source of the burst, which I dont understand as we are in a town and the houses before and after our estate all had water. So our water wasnt fixed on Xmas eve. I was told that the ground was too hard for them to excavate! There must be some crappy diggers in NI Water.
Anyway, the point is, if they had more than a skeleton staff on over Xmas and had fixed the isolated issues when they first started to appear, it would have taken the pressure off when the rest of the outages appeared due to a thaw. The only reason for them not doing this is money. They would have had to pay the engineers more over xmas. So they were happy to let people go without so they could save a quid. Now everyone is suffereing for this ineptitude.

Not everyone wants to work over christmas, especially people with young families. What would you say if they had offered the double/triple time to their engineers and they turned it down? Are their staff not entitled to Christmas off too?

I doubt the workers were ever offered double/triple time to work over xmas (i'd take your arm off for triple time), i'd bet my bottom dollar management decided this was an expensive no no and hence the problems.

[tbrick18]

Not everyone wants to work over christmas, especially people with young families.

What about the people with young families and no water? Surely it's more of a concern that those who actually need water takes precedence over those who have the desire to be with their families?

Water should be a 365 days per year commodity (where at all possible), and if (some) employees of NIW are uncomfortable with that thought perhaps they're in the wrong job.

This is exactly the point I made on the phone to one of the NI Water complainants! NI Water are supposed to provide water 365 days a year. How they do that is up to them.....however I would have thought given the current economic climate that people are glad to have work of any sort and will work as much as possible when given the opportunity. You work for NI Water BigFella?
I work in a private company and the only day of the year they actually close is Xmas day....but we still provide cover on Xmas day for emergencies. In any contract of employment it generally states your contracted hours and salary and that you can be asked to work additional hours at the company's discretion. If NI Water staff do not want to work in extenuating circumstances then its time NI Water employed the staff who will so that they can provide the service they are contracted to do.
NI Water also have a lot of sub-contractors they can use if their own staff are unwilling anyway....so why werent they called in over Xmas?

[Sandino]

I have not given this issue a great deal of thought, yet there are other factors which need to be noted. Some people have had the taps running in their houses from early december incase they freeze. Even more annoying is the number of people whom I have seen today washing cars and powerwashing their drives, This must be making the situation even worse.

[delboy]

If NI Water staff do not want to work in extenuating circumstances then its time NI Water employed the staff who will so that they can provide the service they are contracted to do.
NI Water also have a lot of sub-contractors they can use if their own staff are unwilling anyway....so why werent they called in over Xmas?

Have we any evidence to suggest that the staff turned down work offered to them? As you say they have sub-contractors which could have been called in if this was the case but they weren't, leads me to say that management must have made the descision not to pay people to work over the xmas peroid.
Lets get it straight and point the finger at the guys getting paid the big money to make the big desicions ie management and not try to shift the blame onto the workers who will almost certainly have had no say in the matter.

[johnneycool]

I have not given this issue a great deal of thought, yet there are other factors which need to be noted. Some people have had the taps running in their houses from early december incase they freeze. Even more annoying is the number of people whom I have seen today washing cars and powerwashing their drives, This must be making the situation even worse.

certainly won't be helping the situation.

I see on a bulletin the NI Water are saying most of the leaks are on private property and dwellings which I suppose isn't and shouldn't be on their remit to repair but if they're losing too much pressure then they'll shut off some area's I'd that thought.

[Tonto]

Under investment in the infrastructure for 40 years compared to other countries.

Nice soundbite but nothing to do with the main issue with NIW which is lack of communication.

To be fair, if there had been the investment in infrastructure then we wouldn't be discussing the chaos in the first place as it wouldn't have happened ... for 40 years successive British governments insisted that the security budget was in addition to the infrastructure budget, a blatant lie.  The security budget was diverted from cash that would have been invested in infrastructure (a la England, Wales and Scotland), it wasn't on top of that money.  Now the chickens are coming home to roost and the latest shenanigans will be used as an excuse by right wingers to demand the introduction of water charges to replace a water system that should have been revamped years ago using money already taken from us in tax and rates. Instead that money was used to ensure Protestant farmers could have another job dressing up in RUC or UDR uniforms of an evening and harassing their neighbours

The UDR to blame?  Best one yet!

[Olly]

To me this is like the economic crisis. It makes people realise that they have a lot and what it's like not to have it. As with lots of money and houses, there was a time in Ireland when there was no water and people bathed in rivers and seas and in the rain. I can even remember my estranged father saying he used to go to the toilet in the woods and clean himself with docken leaves with foxes and wolves eyeing him up.

[orangeman]

Under investment in the infrastructure for 40 years compared to other countries.

Nice soundbite but nothing to do with the main issue with NIW which is lack of communication.

To be fair, if there had been the investment in infrastructure then we wouldn't be discussing the chaos in the first place as it wouldn't have happened ... for 40 years successive British governments insisted that the security budget was in addition to the infrastructure budget, a blatant lie.  The security budget was diverted from cash that would have been invested in infrastructure (a la England, Wales and Scotland), it wasn't on top of that money.  Now the chickens are coming home to roost and the latest shenanigans will be used as an excuse by right wingers to demand the introduction of water charges to replace a water system that should have been revamped years ago using money already taken from us in tax and rates. Instead that money was used to ensure Protestant farmers could have another job dressing up in RUC or UDR uniforms of an evening and harassing their neighbours

The UDR to blame?  Best one yet!

Definitely the best one yet. I'll second that one just in case it doesn't get a seconder.   

[Tonto]

To me this is like the economic crisis. It makes people realise that they have a lot and what it's like not to have it. As with lots of money and houses, there was a time in Ireland when there was no water and people bathed in rivers and seas and in the rain. I can even remember my estranged father saying he used to go to the toilet in the woods and clean himself with docken leaves with foxes and wolves eyeing him up.

The laughs in this thread keep coming.  Your da remembers the 18th Century, does he?  Wolves eyeing him up as he wiped his arse! 

[Trout]

So this is what it is like to live in Africa, only without the chance of a nice suntan.

[Olly]

The laughs in this thread keep coming.  Your da remembers the 18th Century, does he?  Wolves eyeing him up as he wiped his arse! 

What are you trying to say? It's a well known suspected fact that wolves and pumas still roam Ireland and particularly northern Ireland woodland areas.