Demand for water in Ireland reaches ‘concerning levels’ due to the heatwave

They’ve identified the areas in Ireland that are at risk.

Irish Water are appealing to the public to conserve as much water as possible over the coming few days.

With a heatwave expected to last for the majority of the week, the prolonged dry spell will put extra pressure on water supplies.

They state that the demand has reached a ‘concerning level’ due to the fact that the water levels in rivers and lakes around Ireland are significantly dropping. Obviously, the knock-on effect is that there could be less water available to treat and supply homes and businesses.

Over the last few days, areas in Athlone, Kilkenny and north Dublin have experienced water outages and restrictions while areas in Donegal and Mullingar have been identified as being at risk.

They state that in the Greater Dublin Area alone, demand has risen to concerning levels.

We have a production capacity for the Greater Dublin Area of 610 million litres daily. Last summer saw usage highs of 565m litres/day & yesterday we reached a critically high 602m litres of water used. For more see https://t.co/8urSINd3ns #ConserveWater #BeWaterSmart

— Irish Water (@IrishWater) June 26, 2018

Commenting on the ongoing situation, Irish Water’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Kate Gannon, said “If demand does not decrease we will start to see homes and businesses on the edge of the network in the Greater Dublin Area experience shortages, as happened in Skerries in recent weeks. The longer this continues, the more people will be at risk of shortages and outages.”

 For more advice on how to conserve water, please visit their Be Water Smart page.