Uisce Éireann has said that, while 7,500 premises around the country remain without water as of lunchtime today (Wednesday, January 29), “additional progress” on re-establishing supply is expected.
In areas where water has not yet returned, alternative water supplies are being provided to support local communities, Uisce Éireann said.
The water authority is also liaising with local co-ordination groups and emergency response hubs in areas where these have been set up.
Updates on the location of these alternative water supplies and other supply updates are available on the Uisce Éireann website.
For some local areas, where feasible, water will be tankered directly to the reservoir or into the network to return supply to customers.
Uisce Éireann said that generators have been installed at almost all of its plants, pumping stations and reservoirs where it is feasible to do so, and that it is continuing to work closely with the ESB to prioritise the restoration of electricity supply in the remaining locations.
Uisce Éireann’s head of water operations Margaret Attridge said the authority is focusing on working with the ESB to prioritise power restoration to treatment plants and pumping stations in impacted areas alongside providing alternative water supplies to customers where supplies have been disrupted for longer periods.
“Our priority now is to ensure the restoration of electricity to our plants and pumping stations that are running on generators or remain without power because connection to a generator is not possible.
Attridge has urged water customers to continue to conserve water where possible in order to protect supply while the outages are resolved.
Meanwhile, in a further update this afternoon, ESB Networks has said it has restored power supply to 635,000 customers, with 133,000 homes, farms and businesses now awaiting power restoration.
This is down from the peak of 768,000 customers immediately in the wake of Storm Éowyn.
ESB Networks is reinforcing its warning around public safety, as there are still many faults on the electricity network.
The ESB said it has been made aware of several instances of potentially very dangerous incidents where members of the public have unknowingly approached fallen electricity infrastructure.
If you come across fallen wires or damaged electricity network, never, ever touch or approach these as they are live and extremely dangerous. Any damage to electricity infrastructure should be reported by calling 1800 372 999.