Irish Water has confirmed that a National Water Conservation Order - commonly referred to as a hosepipe ban - will be in place from 8am today until midnight on Tuesday 31 July 2018.
The ban covers all domestic public water supplies and commercial premises for non-commercial activities. The scope of the order is the same as the one applied to the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) on Monday this week. Irish Water will keep the situation under review and may have to extend the period of time the order is in place.
The order has been issued due to the continued drought conditions and to help protect water supplies now and over the coming months. Met Éireann has advised that there has been little or no rain over the last 30 days and predictions show no significant rainfall is likely for at least a further week, meaning deepening drought conditions.
The average soil moisture deficit is currently 60mm nationally which means even if it did rain, no water would reach water sources as it would be absorbed by the ground. The continuation of the drought conditions nationally is putting pressure on water sources as rivers, lakes and groundwater levels drop, the water company said, commenting:
“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. Due to soil moisture conditions, smaller groundwater sites in particular may take many months to recover. “
Prohibited uses of water drawn through a hosepipe under the order are as follows:
- watering a garden
- cleaning a private motor-vehicle using a domestic hosepipe
- cleaning a private leisure boat
- filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool (except when using hand held containers filled directly from a tap)
- filling or maintaining a domestic pond (excluding fish ponds)
- filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain (with the exception of such use for commercial purposes)
- filling or replenishing an artificial pond, lake or similar application.
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.”
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