Irish Water has issued a National Water Conservation Order commonly referred to as a hosepipe ban from 8am on Friday, 6 July to midnight on Tuesday 31 July as a drought continues across the country.
We thank the public for their conservation efforts so far and we urge them to continue to conserve water to help protect water supplies now and over the coming months.
The ban is for all domestic public water supplies and commercial premises for non-commercial activities e.g. watering gardens attached to a business premises.
Met Éireann advised that there has been little or no rain over the last 30 days, with an average soil moisture deficit of 60mm meaning even if it did rain, no water would reach our water sources for at least a week, as it will be absorbed by the ground
The scope of this Order is the same as the one applied to the Greater Dublin Area on Monday, 2 July 2018.
Irish Water may review the scope of both over the coming weeks. High levels of sunlight means significant evaporation levels on water sources.
On average demand across all water resources nationally has increased by 15%, and given the environmental pressures on the aquifers and waterbodies, this cannot be sustained for any period of time.
The Irish Water Conservation Order (hosepipe ban) does not apply to private wells or private group water schemes. Speaking about the legal move, Irish Water’s Corporate Affairs Manager Kate Gannon said:
“Imposing a national Water Conservation Order (hosepipe ban) reflects the serious need for water conservation now and over the coming months. It is essential that our water supply resources are conserved to help avoid further restrictions and outages over the coming weeks and months.
“We are really grateful for the measures that people have taken to conserve water so far and we hope that placing a Water Conservation Order (hosepipe ban) will make people more mindful of their responsibilities and the impact their water usage is having on their neighbours and communities.
“Irish Water is mindful of the impact that a Water Conservation Order might have on businesses and the tourist industry and for that reason the prohibition is mainly limited to domestic users but does include commercial premises for non-commercial activities e.g. watering gardens attached to a business premises.
“The utility continues to be in touch with large commercial users who have committed to conserving water and we are very grateful to them for their efforts. We are also appealing to them to limit all non-essential water use and to avoid using hosepipes or power washers where possible, particularly if it is for cosmetic reasons.”
