Leitrim resident says constant water outages cost him €1000 and calls for adequate notifications

A Leitrim resident has spoken out about the lack of communication with residents from Uisce Éireann regarding water outages in Glenade. 

Glenade resident Sean McGloin, who lives around 3km from the pumping station, said. "I don't believe that there is a reservoir; it's just pumped past our gate and on to a tank that's another 3km from where we live."

He told the Leitrim Observer: "What happened yesterday morning (Thursday, 19 March); apparently the system went down on Wednesday night. I had no idea the water was off until I got to the kitchen and turned on the tap and it was empty."

He said it's something he has "gotten into the habit of doing each morning" due to the countless outages in the area. 

He continued: "Unfortunately, I didn't do that before I had my shower. My wife, who works as a professional and my son, who is a teacher, couldn't have a shower that morning. That's not the end of the world. I contacted Cllr Justin Warnock and did what he could. The issue was I still didn't get a notification from Uisce Éireann about it."

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Mr McGloin said that when an outage occurs, the water in his home ceases to run immediately. "We are on elevated site which creates an even bigger problem. Our pressure is quite low as it is so we don't have a great water pressure at most times."

He said that his biggest issue is the lack of communication from Uisce Éireann and that "they don't have any kind of back-up; if something happens, the water is down and that's it."

He signed up to receive notifications of outages from Uisce Éireann around 18 months ago. "Even though our water supply has been out a minimum of eight to ten times since then, I have only ever received one notification and that's my main issue - the lack of communication."

He continued that he had to replace a water pump in his house due to the ongoing water outages at a cost of over €1000 in June, 2024. "I had to replace a water circulating pump which provides the house with decent water pressure."

Mr McGloin said the outage during the week could have "easily cost me another €1000. I do know that Uisce Éireann were contacted yesterday morning at 9am and had no notification in their system about our supply being down. Somebody isn't doing their job."

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He said that a neighbour who has cattle was also effected by the outage. "These are cows that are ready to calve and their troughs were dry yesterday morning. It's crucial at this time of year that they get adequate water supply. When the water did finally come back on, it was like milk was coming out of the taps; it was white."

He added that when Storm Éowyn hit the country, the water system was down "for around a week and all because they didn't have power."

Mr McGloin concluded that he returned from living abroad five years ago and in that time, "I can't even count how many outages there have been. We have an outage around once or twice a month."