1,700 Carlow business customers to benefit from one point of contact for all their water queries
Irish Water will this week begin the process to take in charge the administration of 1,700 business customer accounts in Co. Carlow. The change will see responsibility for account administration for existing business customers in Carlow move to Irish Water from Local Authorities. Charges for business customers, credit terms and the frequency of billing will remain unchanged while this transition is taking place.
Business customers in Carlow will now benefit from having a single point of customer contact for all queries in relation to water supply, wastewater treatment and business account management. Irish Water will contact all 1,700 business customers and other affected groups in Carlow directly, once the transition takes place and has contacted all elected representatives in the county to providing information on the administrative change. Bills will be issued from Irish Water directly, as they fall due, from September onwards.
Irish Water took over responsibility for providing public water services to business customers in January 2014. Before this, Local Authorities billed businesses for water services provided to them and they have continued to issue bills on behalf of Irish Water on an interim basis since then. A process is now beginning to transfer this billing process to Irish Water as part of the transition of water service delivery from Local Authorities to Irish Water.
Irish Water is currently investing €5.5 million in a water mains rehabilitation programme in Co. Carlow which will result in significant improvements in network performance, security of supply and efficiency for businesses and homes across the county providing a more secure, robust water supply and reduce leakage in the network. It will involve the rehabilitation and replacement of approximately 14km of aging water mains with new heavy duty polyethylene (heavy duty plastic) pipes and the replacement of approximately 1,200 water service connections in Carlow Town, Tullow, Bagenalstown and Tinnahinch.
Irish Water began the process of billing transfer on a phased basis in mid-July and to date the bill administration for counties Meath, Monaghan and Longford has successfully been transferred to the utility. Prior to bills being issued, Irish Water will contact customers directly in each county to explain what is happening. Business customers with a query in relation to their accounts can contact Irish Water on 1850 778 778 or 01 707 2827.