Residents of the Ring Gaeltacht have expressed frustration at ongoing interruptions to their water supply and have urged Waterford County Council to upgrade the system. The council says it is dealing with the problem.
Recent rationing of supplies has been described as "an embarrassment" to the community by the area's Udaras na Gaeltachta representative, Cllr Fiachra O Ceilleachair.
Local people who were doing their best to promote tourism and patronage of the Gaeltacht's Irish college had to put up with an inadequate water supply for several years, he said.
"A feature of living in many parts of Ring is that during the summer there are problems with the quantity of water and in the winter there are problems with quality in terms of taste and discolouration."
Mr O Ceilleachair is a member of the board of Udaras and a Labour member of Waterford County Council. The area was dependent on an old system which did not have the capacity to meet demand, particularly in the summer when the numbers of students and visitors reached a peak, he said.
"Last week I had several phone calls from annoyed householders who woke in the morning to find they had not a drop of water in the house. This meant no showers and a scramble to get even a cup of tea organised. This included a guesthouse and houses keeping Irish language students."
The council had acknowledged the problem and was seeking a new water supply source for the area, but a new system had first been promised two to three years ago and it was time for action, he said.
It added "insult to injury", he claimed, that the council had recently approved a "suburban-type housing estate" in Ring when it was unable to provide a decent water supply to existing residents.
Mr O Ceilleach air is one of a number of residents who have appealed to An Bord Pleanala over the planning permission for an 18-house development at Baile na nGall. Some locals, however, believe the density involved - three houses per acre - is appropriate for a rural area and does not constitute suburban-type development.
Mr Eamonn Mansfield, the acting county engineer, said the county council had hired engineering consultants MC O'Sullivan to examine the water supply system. It would be making recommendations on both quantity and quality in the next month. A preliminary report would then be sent to the Department of the Environment and Local Government.
