Water Services

Thursday 22 October 2009

The RDCA wrote to NI Water in September requesting clarification over concerns with the Island’s water supply. An initial response was received in September. The following response was received in October.

CMS Reference: 9080909/42108

Ref: Rathlin Island

We refer to our email dated 18 September 2009, regarding ongoing work to the water pumps and boreholes on Rathlin Island. We apologise for the delay in providing you with a full response.

We can advise that Northern Ireland Water continually monitors water usage on Rathlin Island. Due to seasonal variations in demand arising from the large number of visitors water usage had risen over the summer months. We had put in place contingency arrangements in order to deal with periods of exceptional usage. These contingencies were implemented over the recent Bank Holiday, when we, as a precaution measure, transported a small amount of water to the island by tanker.

As you are aware, operations has been carrying out several pieces of work over the last few weeks and these along with the decrease in the number of tourists have contributed to a significant reduction in demand. With this reduction in demand, coupled with the seasonal winter recharge of the water levels, we anticipate that the water levels in the boreholes will fully recover over the winter months. In addition, we have instigated extra logging of the water levels over the next year in order to closely manage the water resource and ensure that the long term water supply to our customers on Rathlin Island remains secure.

Should you need any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us on 08457 440088 or by emailing waterline@cs.niwater.com, quoting your CMS Reference Number.

Yours sincerely

Customer Relations Centre