A major upgrade is in the pipeline for the water infrastructure serving the Rossbracken, Corkey, Raymoghy and Manorcunningham.
Residents in the area have complained of regular water mains bursts in recent years, including on Christmas Day, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter Sunday of this year.
Mayor of Letterkenny-Milford Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly has now confirmed that Uisce Eireann is making an application for funding to reinstate the pipes serving the area.
If the application is successful, the works should be commencing in 2024.
Cllr Kelly said: “I’m delighted to have some positive news for this area. To have new pipes reinstated and an upgrade to the infrastructure there will hopefully address the issues in the area. I’m delighted for the residents in the area to see progress being made and I will be keeping a close eye on this application through our own local services and through Uisce Eireann.”
Cllr Kelly commented that he will be pushing hard to have the same commitments made for another area outside Letterkenny that is having repeated water problems. The Mayor raised the issues at Bomany, Newmills, Conwal and Tullygay with Uisce Eireann during a meeting yesterday. Residents here have been plagued by water outages and poor water pressure. Since September, in Bomany alone there have been 84 outages.
Cllr Kelly said that Uisce Eireann are in the process of carrying out temporary works to address the ongoing problems.
“Works commenced as early as yesterday,” Cllr Kelly said. “They are going to install a water pumping station to hopefully boost the pressure coming from Lough Salt and Glenswilly. I hope that will address the problem as a temporary measure.
“Irish Water told me they are committed to addressing the problem. They are carrying out hydraulic analysis on the lines, but a permanent solution will take years.
“It’s a long bit way away but I am eager to keep the pressure on. These residents are suffering, some of them have been suffering since 2006, and we have to get these measures implemented as soon as possible.”
Cllr Kelly added that he asked Irish Water to revisit the reservoir in Rahan. “It’s my opinion that it’s not big enough to hold the capacity of water. I’ve asked them, should it be the case, to upgrade the reservoir or put a second one in place. This is something that is going to have to be looked into,” he said.
“These people deserve better, they are paying taxes and water bills and not getting an adequate service.”
