Cork city drinking water update

Bord Gáis has received a number of queries from natural gas users regarding use of their heating systems during the current water supply situation.

The advice from Bord Gáis (www.bordgais.ie) is as follows:
“Natural gas central heating systems should continue to operate in instances where water from the mains supply has been cut off. Natural gas users who have the option to control their central heating and domestic hot water circuits separately, can continue to use their central heating boiler but should avoid use of the hot water circuit until water supplies have been restored. For natural gas users who do not have the option to control their hot water separately from their heating, they should be aware that where the hot water circuit and heating circuit are shared and the level of the water in the hot water system (cylinder / domestic storage tank) runs down, the boiler may trip out (on temperature overheat).
This is a normal boiler safety control. Note that using your hot water taps will result in the draining down of the domestic hot water system (cylinder / domestic storage tank). For users with Combi type boilers (normally operated without the need for hot water storage unit) the central heating system should continue to operate as normal however, the hot water system, which is normally fed directly from the mains water supply, will not operate until the water supply is restored.
If customers experience difficulties with their central heating system, they should contact a local Registered Gas Installer (RGI). Visit www.rgii.ie to find a local RGI.

The system has to be pressurised sufficiently to get the water up to the correct height to flow through your taps.

It's quite possible that your house is just above the maximum height that the system can pump the water up to right now. There is some water getting into the network from alternative sources, but it's a very limited supply so it seems that it's only going to the central island and the lowest lying areas.

It's possible that you're getting water at early hours of the morning because city centre demand is lowest then, so the system has enough pressure to allow water to flow a little higher up.

Once the city centre demand goes back on again, the pressure drops and your supply is once again interrupted.

Also, remember in the Irish (and British) system every building has a head tank i.e. an attic tank. So, when the water is restored, everyone's house is on maximum demand as those tanks start to fill-up. This results in very low pressure for quite a while and it can take the system ages to re-pressurise.

In most other countries, water is supplied using larger mains and enters your home through a simple non-return valve. Hot, and cold water are all pressurised from the mains.

The Irish (and British) system is a bit of an oddity to put it mildly!

Again, as others on this forum have stressed

If you water has been interrupted i.e. if you're on the Lee Road Waterworks supplied system (most of the City) you should not assume that the water coming from your taps is clean until the system is fully restored to normal working order.

If you must drink water from the tap, you should BOIL it in a kettle first.

i.e. typically this means making lots of cups of tea!

Water for washing food and dishes should also be boiled and allowed to cool before using.

Same for washing teeth.

Ideally, just use bottled water for anything that you might consume.

If you are washing your hands to put in contact lenses, or to carry out any medical procedures such as injecting insulin you should use bottled water and wash your hands with antibacterial soap as normal.

Do not rinse your hands in mains water!

Other tips:

If you are cooking vegetables and you normally boil them, consider using the microwave.

Put the vegetables into a microwavable bowl, add a couple of tablespoons of boiled water, or bottled water. Cover with a plate and microwave for 4 to 6 mins (depending on the wattage of your microwave)

Vegetables can also be baked, by just putting them into the oven in a baking tray and drizzling them with a little olive oil & cooking at about 190C until cooked.

In general, I would recommend avoiding using water to cook

i live on the boreenmanna road and my cold water tap has come back on since 11 this am (pressuse is good) .. Only my cold taps are working though downstairs and the toilet cistern downstairs is refilling too... No Hot taps are working downstairs or any other taps upstairs Does anyone else have this problem. Could it be an airlock?? Any answer appreicated

items wrote: »

I have set up another thread dedicated to plumbing and heating questions in this section (Cork City), can you ask the question there, I would prefer to answer it there as people with the same problem can have an answer to read, might get lost in this post! Cheers.

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Okay will try there .. new to boards .. joined yesterday .. So i hope i get it right.. thanks

Cork City Council wishes to advise the media and the public that a water tanker is now operational at The Glenanaar Pub, Boreenmanna Road.

shell42970 wrote: »

In reading previous posts about some businesses who are taking advantage of the crisis, I think it's good to let folks know that other businesses are trying to help. In that vein, I'd like to give a quick shout-out to Singleton Supervalu in Hollyhill, who is going door-to-door this morning handing out 2 - 2 litre bottles of water to residents. The store owner himself delivered to our terrace.

That's really good of them. The positive PR that comes from something like that will bring them more money in future customers than they would make by increasing the water price.