UP to 4,000 households
were left without water in Inishowen due to a fault
at Eddie Fullerton Dam. Homes found themselves with
no supply during Sunday's hot weather and today due
to a breakdown at the reservoir near Buncrana.
Donegal County Council senior engineer, Pat
Gillespie, said the dam automatically shut itself
down when a fault occurred during the chemical
cleansing process. He said the supply of a chemical
used to gather peat, soil and sediment from the
water stopped about midday on Sunday. The dam
automatically shut itself down as part of a safety
mechanism.
"The fault happened during the treatment process. A
problem arose in the chemical supply that we didn't
become aware of until the water supply had actually
stopped," said Mr Gillespie.
"If it had been an ordinary working day, it wouldn't
have been an issue but because it was a weekend, it
became a problem." Areas affected included Dunree,
Buncrana, Fahan, Burnfoot and Newtowncunningham.
Mr Gillespie said the water supply had been restored
to three-quarters of households by lunchtime today
with the remainder expected to be back to normal by
about 4pm.
"There is no reason for people to worry about the
quality of the water and there is no reason to worry
about supply. It’s a very safe system and no water
was lost," he added. |
