Loughrea - water problems

MargeS

Anyone in Loughrea without water this morning, besides myself?

Ithaca

Have been without since New Year's day due to frozen pipes. If yours is now frozen I would advise you to conserve water any way you can in case you will be without until a thaw. Your main tank in the attic will keep things ticking over for a while.

MargeS

I'm hoping this may explain the lack of mains water this morning:
http://www.galway.ie/en/media/Water Supply Disruptions PDF

I'll know for sure when I get home from work

shnethb

I have no water today in Loughrea but my next door neighbour has, I have been up in the attic but nothing frozen up there so I think its out side its frozen.

MargeS

shnethb wrote: »

I have no water today in Loughrea but my next door neighbour has, I have been up in the attic but nothing frozen up there so I think its out side its frozen.

This is how our problem started too. The stopcock was totally frozen and even after we defrosted it, we still have to water. So the pipe between the mains and the house is frozen somewhere!

Ithaca

From RTÉ news: A water standpipe will be available for people to fill containers at the Fire Station on Barrack Street, Loughrea, until 9pm each evening.

Thankfully my water came back last night.

MargeS

Yet another bout of cold weather and no water AGAIN!
I think the developers should be made come back, and either insulate the ground pipes or bury them deeper!! Arrrrrgghh!!! :mad:

WallyGUFC

This is absolute freak weather, once in a lifetime stuff. I've no water myself but nothing you can do. Just grin and bear it, and get a barrel to wash in!:o

toadfly

WallyGUFC wrote: »

This is absolute freak weather, once in a lifetime stuff.

Twice in one year isnt exactly once in a lifetime.

MargeS

TillyGirl wrote: »

Twice in one year isnt exactly once in a lifetime.

I agree, I think, like our extra wet summers, our more severe winters are going to become the norm!

Kallisto73

Our water went on 22nd of December. Even with the thaw, it has not come back. Yesterday, I saw people in the estate trying to defrost the stop cocks.
Yesterday, the heating went as well (no more water).
Has it improved where you are?

paulusdu

It may not be frozen stock cocks that is causing the problem, if it is estate wide then it is probably a burst water mains that is the problem. Thats what is causing the problem in our estate in Loughrea as far as we know. There is a water tanker outside the fire station, best fill up some drums for the moment, it might be a while before we get back to normal supply.

Kallisto73

Thanks, Paulus. The problem is more the heating than anything. Because now, there is no pressure to put the remaining water into the radiators. So, while I can get water from Barrack St. heating is a different matter...

I'll ring the council tomorrow and see what they have to say for themselves.

paulusdu

Yeah, heating will be a pain alright, thankfully though it is nowhere near as cold as it was a few days ago. But we are supposed to drop in temps from thursday. Hopefully you get sorted before then though

toadfly

Ours finally came back this morning. Big relief.

Kallisto73

I called the plumber after realising that my neighbour had water.
My stop cock was frozen alright. He sorted that out and (while doing that) discovered a leak in my heating system and replaced the leaking valve (which is a closed system, so I should have had heating all the time in spite of the water mains being cut off).
Anyways, he fixed that as well and checked the whole system including the attic and each radiator.
He spent 90 minutes and only charged 45 Euros. Great serivce, great price. Am totally relieved!

niko77

any info for water problem

paulusdu

Good to hear Kallisto, it must be a relief to turn the tap and see water flowing out. Its something we take for granted.
As far as i can tell, water is coming back on in our estate, but there is no notice of any restirctions placed on us by Galway County Council on their website.

MargeS

Our water returned this evening, finally. We were kinda prepared as we had the bath filled before our water went. But it is amazing how much you take running water for granted.

niko77

is back yahoooooooooo:D:D:D

Kallisto73

Water cut off again.
Last night, everything was fine. This morning at 9 am: No water. Stop cock definitely not frozen anymore, checked myself.
Can't get a hold of the council and the neighbours have left for new year's.
Anyone else without water this morning in Loughrea, Danesfort estate?

toadfly

Yip me

Was back fullblast yesterday morning then this morning the pressure was crap. Dont know what its like now as I am at work.

Am across the road from you in Eden Park.

Kallisto73

High Tilly! Alright. This gives me some hope. I spoke to my plumber and he believes it's the general grid rather than the house (because I had full service restored yesterday, could run a full dishwasher, no problem. Tank in attic filled nicely, the works).

I will post again later today. It would be great if you could perhaps post an update tonight when you're back from work so that I have more info when I call the council tomorrow (they're convenientyl closed today, and no update on their website either...)

toadfly

Its gone, just rang home there

Why are the council closed today? Its not a bank holiday..

Will let you know if it comes back tonight.

hoody

Some of the council lads will be out fixing leaks today - whether or not they have someone answering phones is a different matter. The reservoir is nearly empty and those of us living in Eden Park, Danesfort Drive, Droim Na Cille or Ard Breeda are at a high point of the town, so there may not be enough pressure in the system to get water to us.

A pain in the arse but I imagine it's a nightmare to fix too - hopefully this is the last day of it though!

paulusdu

I doubt if it will be the last day, i'd keep any containers filled for the next week or so. I have 7 * 5 litre bottles of water under the stairs that i will keep replenished. Boil any water you get from the tanks the council provide. There are a lot of leaks, and it hasn;t rained anyway near enough to replenish the suppies, so there may be a lot of evenign shut offs of the water system.
The council boys are goign to be very busy for the next while.
The next problem will be the massive pot holes. Coming into Loughrea from the Woodford road, just before the lake car park, looks like it has been under motar attack

MargeS

Kallisto73 wrote: »

Water cut off again.
Last night, everything was fine. This morning at 9 am: No water. Stop cock definitely not frozen anymore, checked myself.
Can't get a hold of the council and the neighbours have left for new year's.
Anyone else without water this morning in Loughrea, Danesfort estate?

Yip, our water came back last night, but it's giving us trouble today - not a solid flow of water.

toadfly

Reports from home is the water is back but I dont know what the pressure is like..

soundbyte

TillyGirl wrote: »

Why are the council closed today? Its not a bank holiday..

It actually IS a bank holiday today, just not a public holiday. Hence the banks are closed. But that doesnt explain why the Council isnt open.

Kallisto73

My neighbour confirmed the water outage.

However, water came back on in the afternoon here in Danesfort. But pressure is, shall we say, variable.

Friends in Kinvarra were cut off as well. Apparently, in many areas supplies are getting cut off without prior notice. There have been complaints from many hotels and restaurants on the coast.
Will ring council tomorrow and find out if they will post the outage times etc.

Kallisto73

The council have updated their website:
###
There will be night time disruptions to
supply on all Council schemes due to
the level of demand outstripping water
production capacity.
Night time restrictions between 9 p.m. and

9 a.m.

There will also day time intermittent
disruptions to supply to facilitate
repairs and this will also be county
wide.
###

This explains why there is intermittent water supply during the day (ours cut out around 5 pm again, no pressure).

Bubs82

we are in danesfort no water since 5 yest eve!! its a torture now. any one else still without water

Kallisto73

Am in Danesfort Court.
This morning around 7:30, water gushed through the pipes, must have opened the service somewhere, tank filled up etc. Tried just now: Some water from tap, but I'm not ecstatic about pressure...

seanin4711

And they want us to pay for this?
Water gone since 23rd luckily was at the in-laws until tuesday ,since then some water yesterday morning(tank in attic full maybe) and that's it.
Called loughrea council office they said it is under restriction and to call back in the afternoon for an update.
Anne monaghan is who I was talking to.
She stated that there are burst pipes all over the place and they are repairing them.
Catch 22 as they cannot fix the burst pipes when there is no water passing through them I.e. fixing them when they are turned off at night.
Pain in the bum how are we/they never prepared for any eventuality.
Sick of it.

Bubs82

seanin4711 wrote: »

And they want us to pay for this?
Called loughrea council office they said it is under restriction and to call back in the afternoon for an update.
Anne monaghan is who I was talking to.
She stated that there are burst pipes all over the place and they are repairing them.
.

Hiya

Do you have the number for her? I cant seem to find it anywhere?

Thanks

seanin4711

Kallisto73 wrote: »

The council have updated their website:
###
There will be night time disruptions to
supply on all Council schemes due to
the level of demand outstripping water
production capacity.
Night time restrictions between 9 p.m. and

9 a.m.

There will also day time intermittent
disruptions to supply to facilitate
repairs and this will also be county
wide.
###

This explains why there is intermittent water supply during the day (ours cut out around 5 pm again, no pressure).

just wondering where you got the info?
thanks
j

paulusdu

Its all on the Galway County Council website

http://www.galway.ie/en/Services/WaterServices/PublicNoticesandBoilWaterNotices/

Kallisto73

Sorry, Seanin, only got your message just now. Thanks Paulus for posting the link.

seanin4711

Bubs82 wrote: »

Hiya

Do you have the number for her? I cant seem to find it anywhere?

Thanks

The council were just at my water mains and turned it on (even though I had turned it on when i came back from holidays)and now have water!
I am at #85 they said that they are turngin it on but if it is bad (# of leaks found )they may have to turn it off again.
Get in there while you can!!!!
Flush your loos!
Grab your showers!
Put on a wash for your undies!!!

091841536 ann monaghan Loughrea office Galway co co

Bubs82

thanks a mill!!! I have just ran around for the past hour getting so much done!!! hopefully it stays on now

shnethb

Hi, We are in Ard Breeda, We were away until Monday, When we got home we had no water but our neighbours have, We Still have no water but some of our neighbours do,

Any Ideas

Bubs82

shnethb wrote: »

Hi, We are in Ard Breeda, We were away until Monday, When we got home we had no water but our neighbours have, We Still have no water but some of our neighbours do,

Any Ideas

Hiya we were away as well and only came back on tues. My husband went out to the water drain thing at front of house opened that and there was a big block off ice in it. si he defrosted that and our water was back. well until they turned it off

Kallisto73

Same here. We only got our water back on Tuesday because I had the plumber in who defrosted the stop cock. Water came on fine, until it was cut off by the council.
I checked again yesterday morning (to be sure, because I had no idea the council had cut us off). The stop cock was working but icy cold. So, poured hot water in, just to be safe.

shnethb

Bubs82 wrote: »

Hiya we were away as well and only came back on tues. My husband went out to the water drain thing at front of house opened that and there was a big block off ice in it. si he defrosted that and our water was back. well until they turned it off

So is it possible that we pipes are in working order now but the water is turned off by the council.???

Bubs82

shnethb wrote: »

So is it possible that we pipes are in working order now but the water is turned off by the council.???

yeah well ours is grand they turned the water back on there again around half 6 or so in our estate (danesfort court)

Kallisto73

Yeah, it' now 10:49 and we have excellent water pressure (well, normal water pressure, I should say). It was on the news that the restrictions were going to be eased for today as many people will go out partying for New Year's. Just imagine if pubs couldn't wash up our glasses...:)
It is expected that the water will be cut again tomorrow. So, if you need to run the washing machine and dish washers, might as well get on with it all today.

Kallisto73

:)Happy New Year, one and all!
With the frosty weather set to come back this week, the council has posted some tips on how to try to prevent the stop cock from freezing:
http://www.galway.ie/en/Services/WaterServices/PublicNoticesandBoilWaterNotices/
In essence, what should be done in the first place is to insulate the stop cock outside your property which connects your house to the mains:

At your Stopcock or meter: Find some material which would be a poor conductor of moisture e.g. aero board, flooring underlay, insulation
products generally. Fill the space around your
stopcock/meter to prevent cold frosty air direct contact
with the stopcock/meter. Straw, attic insulation, even
cloth but put them into a plastic bag first to prevent
moisture penetration.

Your service pipe between your stopcock/meter and your house:
Typically this will be under the driveway or garden.
This pipe should be buried at least one and a half feet
below ground and should be lagged. Parking a car over
such a pipe where it is under a driveway can be helpful
where it is not properly buried.

In your attic: Lag all pipes, all tanks, consider leaving attic hatches
open, fit heater lamps connected to thermostats, inspect
tank regularly during frosty weather and if ice starts to
form break it up regularly and make sure the stopcock is

working.



I opened my stop cock today and the compartment was full of water. I drained it (using kitchen towels) and then put in little garbage sacks full of packaging peanuts to insulate all round.

In addition, I found an Irish company that has patented a "stop cock cosy" following the 2010 cold snap. I have ordered this device and will let you know how I get on.

I hope that the new cold spell this week will not affect you guys too badly.

Happy 2011!

toadfly

Any update on this? Have been away for a few days, am I likely to have water this evening or not?!

Kallisto73

We've had water in DFC all weekend and just now I checked, the cold water from the tap downstairs is running fine.
Have you checked your stop cock? I drained mine to avoid it from freezing up again.