Water meters imminent

THE first water meter installation programme in Dublin city will commence next Monday, October 7, in the Artane/Beaumont area.

Workers will not have to enter residents’ homes as the meters will be installed outside their properties on the public water mains.

The meters will be installed between 8am and 6pm from Monday to Saturday.

Each water meter installation will take from 15 minutes to two hours, depending on the work to be carried out.

Meters will be placed in a meter box, which will be fitted underground in the public footpath outside the homeowner’s property.

Installers will have official Irish Water identification, wear branded uniforms and will never ask to enter people’s homes.

Advance notification of at least 14 days has been issued to each householder before the installation begins and they have also been supplied with information packs.

There are no upfront costs for the meters but water charges are due to be introduced in the fourth quarter of 2014. The first bills will be issued in January 2015.

The installation programme will see more than one million meters installed throughout Ireland over the next three years.

Managing director of Irish Water, John Tierney, said that over recent months they have been working closely with Dublin City Council to ensure that plans are in place for the efficient and managed rollout of the programme.

“We are committed to installing water meters with minimum inconvenience to householders across Dublin,

? Mr Tierney told Northside People.

“We look forward to working with them to ensure minimum disruption as we carry out our work in the coming weeks and months.

?

Mr Tierney complimented city council officials for the

“highly professional manner in which they have helped us prepare for this programme

?. Meanwhile, Donaghmede ward councillor Mícheál Mac Donncha (SF) has hit out at the Government for introducing the water meter programme.

“Government and local authority resources are going into installing water meters and setting up the new Irish Water company instead of being used to take flood prevention measures,

? he claimed.

“We are told by council management that there are no resources to carry out already identified essential flood prevention works at places such as Grange Park Road, Raheny, where people were recently badly affected by flooding. Works to alleviate flooding in Raheny village are also delayed.

?

Cllr Mac Donncha said that when he raised flooding issues, a shortage of council personnel and resources has been cited.

“Yet the Government is spending public money installing water meters to levy an unjust water charge on top of people who cannot afford to pay any more,

? he added.

“This is totally unacceptable.”

Cllr Mac Donncha recently asked Dublin City Manager Owen Keegan if additional funding will be sought to carry out essential flood prevention works at locations such as Grange Park Road.

“In 2005, the Greater Dublin Strategic Drainage Study identified the general scale of capacity problems within the drainage network within Dublin City and identified solutions at numerous locations throughout the city to address the deficiencies,

? Mr Keegan said in his response.

“Provision has been made in Water Services Investment Programmes since then for elements of recommended works to be carried out and much work has been completed.

“There is, however, no mechanism for the addition of extra schemes to the current Water Services Investment Programme, which finishes at the end of 2013, to cover areas such as Grange Park Road, Raheny.

“The flooding at that location arose from the inability of the drainage network to cope with the surface water run-off arising from the extreme pluvial rainfall events that happened in July.

?