HOUSEHOLDERS are facing the prospect of their water being cut off at night for the rest of this week at least as leaks continue to wreak havoc on Wexford's water supply.

Wexford County Council has confirmed yesterday (Tuesday) that the water supplies to Wexford, New Ross, Gorey and Enniscorthy towns would be turned off last night and would continue to be turned off until at least the end of the week.

Over two million gallons of water (or 10,000 metres cubed) is now being lost throughout the county every day, with consumption up by around 25 per cent on normal levels according to Gerry Forde, Senior Executive Engineer with Wexford County Council.

The surge in water usage is not concentrated in any specific part of Wexford either as Mr Forde said that the Council's telemetry system monitors around 90 supply areas in the county and all of them have been subject to far higher demand.

While significant part of the surge in demand has been caused by people who are leaving taps running in a bid to prevent pipes from freezing, Mr Forde said that leaks are primarily responsible for the current problems.

Leaks in service pipes – connecting people's homes to the mains supply – are the primary problem for Wexford County Council, whose workers are battling around the clock to combat the growing problems caused by the freezing cold.

These pipes – which are the responsibility of homeowners – can be responsible for the loss of up to 150 metres cubed at night when the water pressure is higher, Mr Forde said.

The water services department of the Council has been inundated by distress calls from householders whose pipes had frozen over in sub-zero temperatures.

Many people discovered that the service pipes on their own properties connecting to the mains had not been laid the recommended 750 millimetres below the ground. Many housing estates are also affected for the same reason.

When a pipe is at 750 millimetres, it would take a prolonged cold spell of up to five months for the frost to seep down to that depth, but as snow and icy conditions deepened last week, many housholders found themselves without water after a three-week spell of icy weather.

The biggest volume of complaints about frozen pipes came from Wexford town, where inspectors were dispatched to housing estates with stand pipes to fill containers of water for residents from water hydrants which are generally used by the Fire Service. Among the Wexford town estates affected were Ashfield Drive, Mount Prospect and Cromwellsfort.

However, a number of mains pipes, also affected by the sub-zero temperatures, have also been subject to leaks, which the Council says it's doing its best to repair.

The water supply to the county's four main towns is now being shut off at night to conserve water. Mr Forde said the shut off time will vary between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. in areas, but should be back every morning by 7 a.m.

He said that if people have leaks in the pipes servicing their home they should endeavour to get them repaired immediately, as it is their responsibility to fix it.

However, if the leak is at the road where the service pipe meets the mains the County Council should be called. Mr Forde also urged anyone aware of a leak in a mains pipe to contact their respective Area Office.

Mr Forde offered his apologies to anyone inconvenienced by the current problems and assured them that the County Council are doing their best to bring a swift resolution to the many issues currently affecting the public water supply. He also praised the hard work of the employees who have worked right through Christmas to maintain water supplies.

- Conor CULLEN