Uisce Éireann launches new text alert service for water outages

Uisce Éireann has announced the launch of its new free-to-use Text Alerts service which will provide water supply updates and information to customers across 1.6 million households. 

This text alert system will be the first time that all of Uisce Éireann’s customers will be able to sign up and receive notifications for their local area. 

The service will provide customers with information about supply interruptions that are expected to last longer than four hours, as well as planned and unplanned outages, and boil water notices should they be needed to protect public health.  

In the past, only vulnerable customers and business customers were able to avail of a Text Alerts service. A new easy to use process means customers can quickly sign up by inputting their Eircode and mobile number via the Uisce Éireann website water.ie. 

The key focus of this text alert service is to ensure customers stay informed about water interruptions or outages. The system is helping to further enhance Uisce Éireann’s commitment to engage with its customers in an effective and timely manner. 

The new supports build on the many services already in place including, 24/7 contact centre, media releases, stakeholder communications, social media @IWcare and a dedicated online outage portal on water.ie.  

Data from Uisce Éireann shows it responded and managed over 12,000 planned and unplanned outages in 2023 with over 90% resolved in under 24 hours.   

Geoffrey Bourke, Head of Customer Operations at Uisce Éireann explained, “As Uisce Éireann carries out its day-to-day operational work and maintenance alongside a billion-euro worth of capital investment each year, we are aware that these works can have short-term impacts on water services to our customers. This Text Alerts service along with our current supports including the dedicated online outage portal on water.ie means homes and businesses are kept fully up to date on what to expect and when”. 

“We are supporting our customers with timely, accurate information which helps to keep all customers up to date on outages to the water supply network. In the past year, our figures show that we had more than two million interactions with customers via a range of channels including phone calls, texts and emails”. 

Bourke went on to say, “From our research, while over half of customers are aware of who to contact in the event of a water outage, we are committed to ensuring that all are fully aware and have information provided in an ease of access manner”.  

“We are confident that the roll-out of this new service will play a crucial role in driving even more awareness of our work in communities across Ireland to deliver a clean, safe and reliable water supply. The service is easy to use, and I encourage people to avail of it by following the registration steps through water.ie”.