IRISH WATER HAS denied it intentionally installs water meters without giving notice to residents.
A woman in Arklow, Co Wicklow claimed that Irish Water workers blocked her driveway for over two hours yesterday as they installed a meter.
She said they told her residents had not received prior warning in a bid to avoid protests.
A spokesperson for Irish Water confirmed a meter installation was undertaken at the woman’s property and apologised that she didn’t receive notification, adding the utility tries to make the process as unintrusive as possible.
However, they denied people are not informed about installations in an attempt to stop protests.
The spokesperson said the utility is “currently implementing phase one of the national metering programme whereby water meters are being installed outside domestic residences on publicly-accessible land”.
“The meters are being installed in line with the survey results as carried out by each local authority.
Any properties that have been identified as suitable for a water meter and are scheduled for meter installations under the works programme are being notified a minimum of two weeks in advance of the meter being installed where practicable.
“The metering project team endeavours to provide further notification at least three days in advance of the installation. There are occasions when works have to be rescheduled at short notice which may impact on these standard procedures. Irish Water and its contractors endeavour to meet this requirement where possible.”
Originally published: 6am
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