THE FLOODS that resulted in overflowing drains and damage to houses, including collapsed boundary walls and overflowing toilets, were not caused by inadequate pipes or water mains, Dublin City Council has said.
Roadside gullies overflowed in the early hours of the morning, flooding roads and the basements of apartments off the North Circular Road. In Donneycarney residents said foul water came back up their toilets.
Much of Dublin is still serviced by a Victorian sewerage and water system. The council two years ago began a programme to replace the water mains, but the work is not due for completion until 2012.
However, a council spokesman said the flooding was due to the “exceptional rainfall” and not any drainage failures. “There is no correlation between areas flooded and old water mains that are due to be replaced under the Dublin Water Main Rehabilitation Project, 2007– 2012.”
He said the council did not receive a weather alert from Met Éireann until 9pm on Wednesday, and the intensity and location of the rain could not be predicted.
