It's not a total surprise to me, but I'm sure it is to many of the people who live in this area. Nearly all of northeast Wicklow (Bray to Wicklow Town) will be without water for at least 24 hours from 7pm tonight. This is to facilitate "maintenance work being carried out by Dublin City Council at the Vartry Water Treatment Works". So, our local area is going to be without water due to work being carried out by Dublin City Council. There is a crude question that could easily follow this sort of information, but I'll just settle for "What on Earth?".
A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from my local (Green Party - yes, I know, me & the Green Party) town councilor informing me that the water was going to be turned off. Then there were more e-mails with new dates for the work. Eventually I called the town offices and I was told that there would be a lot of publicity when the time came to switch off the water. Well, now that the day is here I have to say that the only mention I found was on the local radio station. And, I only tuned in today because the most recent e-mail had told me today was definitely the day.
I know I'm not the only one who doesn't listen to the local station - the music goes right through my brain. I don't remember seeing anything about this in last week's Wicklow Times, but maybe I missed it. Regardless, it's well past time that the local authorities got their act together.
There is no reason why people in this area are not notified of major events - like no water for a day - by text message. Everyone has a mobile phone. In fact, I'd nearly bet that there are as many homes with mobile phones as there are homes with televisions. The local authorities should have an opt-in list of mobile numbers that they text when there is a significant local event. This would surely reach more people than ads on a local station that is, after all, just another top 40 music station.
