Uisce Éireann has confirmed long-awaited infrastructure upgrades for Whiterock Hill, Coolcotts, and Castlebridge in response to persistent water outages affecting residents and businesses.
Residents of Whiterock Hill are left without water on average twice a month, with creches and businesses forced to close at short notice. The outages forced Bumblebee’s creche in Whitebrook to close, leaving over 40 families seeking alternative childcare. Owner Helen Scallan said Uisce Éireann “doesn’t seem to care” and that families were given a reference number with no explanation each time an outage occurred.
Sinn Féin Councillor Tom Forde submitted queries to Uisce Éireann that led to the confirmation of improvement plans for all three locations.
For Coolcotts, the plans include 1.3km of new water main infrastructure and a new booster station, with completion expected in late 2028.
For Whiterock Hill, the works include 3.8km of new water main and a new booster station, identified as part of an accelerated growth assessment. The proposals are under review with the intention to hand them to the Uisce Éireann delivery team by the end of 2026.
Castlebridge is also the subject of water network planning. Preliminary assessments indicate the need for infrastructure investment, with the intention to complete the plan by early 2027.
Forde said the confirmation “represents a long overdue acknowledgement of the serious and ongoing water supply issues affecting local residents.” He expressed concern about the timelines, noting that some projects are not expected to be completed until 2028 and that communities need “a greater sense of urgency.”
In November 2025, the Wexford Borough District asked Uisce Éireann to attend a meeting to explain why Whiterock Hill had experienced 14 outages that year alone. The utility stated that the outages were caused by a technical issue with new booster pumps installed in April 2025, localised power interruptions, and burst mains between Bishopswater and Rathaspeck.
A leak in Whiterock Hill was losing 4,300 litres of water every day before being fixed under Uisce Éireann’s National Leakage Reduction Programme in May 2026.
The confirmed upgrades follow years of recurring problems. In April 2025, Deputy George Lawlor told the Dáil that Whiterock Hill had experienced eight outages in the first 13 weeks of that year, forcing Bumblebee’s creche to close. Lawlor described the situation as “beyond a joke.”
Almost €12m of a €17m county-wide allocation has been ringfenced for upgrading water facilities in Wexford Town, including the Whiterock Hill and Mulgannon areas, to cater for a projected 2,500 new homes. Uisce Éireann has identified a projected increase of approximately 500 housing units in the Whiterock Hill locality alone.
Forde also reported that some planned works occurred without notice and that outages supposed to last a day could continue for two or three days.
Problems with the water supply in Whiterock Hill date back years. Council minutes from February 2022 recorded discussions on water quality issues at the location. The area is served by the Fardystown water supply scheme, which has known hard water issues causing damage to appliances. Forde reported that one resident had to replace five showers, two washing machines, five kettles and two dishwashers in three years.