Uisce Éireann is warning of potential disruption to water supplies due to strike action by members of the Unite trade union.
Water service workers in a number of local authorities are engaging in work stoppages today and tomorrow.
Unite is seeking a commitment that water staff transferring from local authorities to Uisce Éireann will retain their public service status.
The utility said that due to the industrial action, precautionary boil water notices have been put in place in parts of Waterford and Tipperary.
It is also warning of potential disruption to water services, in particular, the speed at which bursts to the water network are repaired in some other local authority areas affected by the strike action.
These are: Cork City, Cork County, Kerry, Fingal, South Dublin, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Louth, Carlow, Galway City and Wexford.
The utility said it has provided advice to large and vulnerable customers in these areas, such as hospitals and care homes.
"We would appeal to Unite to engage with the relevant representative bodies and avoid putting the water supply and wastewater service for homes and businesses at risk," said Head of Operations for Uisce Éireann Tom Cuddy.
"While Uisce Éireann is not a party to the dispute our incident management team is continuing to assess the potential impact of industrial action and we are working closely with management in the local authorities to put appropriate plans in place to minimise and manage any disruptions to water and wastewater services."
Unite said it is seeking the strengthening of existing commitments regarding protection of local authority workers involved in water services delivery and a removal of service and age barriers for those wishing to avail of redundancy options.
The dispute follows Unite members' decision to reject the 'Framework for the Future Delivery of Water Services' document put forward by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) last year.
Unite seeks engagement with LGMA
Regional Co-Ordinating Officer with Unite Tom Fitzgerald said it is "unacceptable" that one State agency - the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) - has "refused" to engage with the union or use other State agencies, such as the WRC, to help resolve the situation.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, he acknowledged that members have rejected the WRC framework but said that Unite is willing to discuss what it considers to be the shortcomings in the document.
"We wrote to the LGMA and said ... the shortcomings in the document from our perspective, can we engage, can we sit down, can we try and address those shortcomings. But we actually haven't sat down with them. That's the fundamental difficulty here."
Mr Fitzgerald said that around 110 workers are engaged in the strike action and they have not done so lightly, knowing their actions will have an immediate impact on their own family, friends and communities.
"No one wants to be on strike. It's a difficult place to be."
He confirmed that members will leave the picket line should emergency situations arise.
A spokesperson for the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage said that the WRC framework is the right way forward as it sets out what will become available for workers and empowers them to decide voluntarily on the option that is best suited to their own individual needs.
