Search

06 Sept 2025

'A lifesaver' - Creative ways people are collecting water amid Storm Éowyn outages

As thousands continue to endure widespread water outages, people have found some short-term solutions

'A lifesaver' - Creative ways people are collecting water amid Storm Éowyn outages

'A lifesaver' - Creative ways people are collecting water amid Storm Éowyn outages

Reporter:

Sandra Malone

30 Jan 2025 12:45 PM

People across the country continue to bear the brunt of the damage caused by Storm Éowyn almost a week ago. As up to 2,800 people remain without water, many have decided to seek solutions themselves. 
One of the country's favourite weather men, Alan O'Reilly of Carlow Weather, has said that many of his followers have turned to harvesting rainwater to fill water butts in order to flush toilets. People that have access to local streams have also being utilising their water to fill toilets.
Of course, hygiene is at the top of everyone's concerns when it comes to water outages and as thousands of people are facing almost a week without water such tips and tricks like these have proved invaluable. 
READ NEXT: EXPLAINED: Ireland speed limits being cut with some rural roads going to 30km/h
With Met Éireann forecasting a wet week ahead, the rain will be welcomed by many who have turned to such alternative measures. 
Indeed, many have commented on the X post by Alan O'Reilly to praise the self-sustaining methods. One person shared: "Rainwater harvesting is a lifesaver, glad people are finding ways to adapt."
Another said: "We’re taking it from the pond to flush the toilets. (No fish in it!)"
Although the resourcefulness has helped many, some have pointed out their frustration with such prolonged outages. As one person said: "Very resilient folk but no one should be forced to live like this. Dreadful in particular for the elderly and people with illness."
Someone else chimed in to say: "These are the sort of scenes you normally see on far off shores after natural disasters. ESB crews are doing trojan work but the scale of power outages after 7 days is mind blowing."
In the latest update from Uisce Éireann, they said that additional progress should be made in the coming days to restore water supplies to more areas.

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!

Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.

Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Most Popular

Sponsored Content

Multimedia

We've got Donegal Covered...

Subscribe or register today to discover more from DonegalLive.ie

Buy a paper

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Buy Now
Get the news

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.

Register Here
Iconic Media is Ireland's largest independently owned regional newspaper and media group, with an unrivalled audience in print, online and mobile. We have 19 regional newspapers and 21 digital sites.

Iconic Digital Titles

  • Carlow Live
  • Clare Live
  • Derry Now
  • Donegal Live
  • Éire Bheo
  • Inish Live
  • Ireland Live
  • Kildare Live
  • Kildare Now
  • Kilkenny Live
  • Laois Live
  • Leitrim Live
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Live
  • Longford Live
  • Louth Live
  • Mayo Live
  • Nenagh Live
  • Offaly Live
  • Tipperary Live
  • Waterford Live

    • Iconic Print Titles

  • Clonmel Nationalist
  • County Derry Post
  • Derry News
  • Donegal Democrat
  • Donegal Post
  • Dundalk Democrat
  • Homes in Donegal
  • Inish Times
  • Kilkenny People
  • Leinster Express
  • Leinster Leader
  • Leitrim Observer
  • Letterkenny Live
  • Limerick Leader
  • Longford Leader
  • Mayo News
  • Midland Tribune
  • Tipperary Star
  • Tullamore Tribune

    • This publication supports the work of the Press Council of Ireland and Office of the Press Ombudsman, and our staff operate within the Code of Practice of the Press Council. You can obtain a copy of the Code, or contact the Council, at www.presscouncil.ie, Lo-call 1800 208 080 or email: info@presscouncil.ie.

    © 2025 Iconic Media