Uisce Éireann is calling for people in the Greater Dublin Area to help conserve water supplies after recent bad weather led to a large increase in burst water pipes and pushed demand for water to unprecedented and critical levels.
According to the water utility daily water use in the Greater Dublin Area has grown to 630 million litres per day, an increase of 40 million litres since last year.
This increase in water consumption is equivalent to the consumption of an addition of 120,000 households in this area.
Uisce Éireann said a growing population and increased economic activity in the region have driven up the demand for water over the past year, but the losses resulting from recent weather-related leaks have pushed demand beyond the supply capacity of the water treatment plants in the capital.
It also warned that storage in the city's treated water reservoirs is now approaching critically low levels.
Some localised night-time restrictions have also been introduced to enable leak detection and repair work, and to help manage reservoir levels.
Leak detection and repair is also being ramped up as well as pressure management across our network in response to the capacity crisis.
Uisce Éireann’s Head of Water Operations Margaret Attridge, said crews are working across the Greater Dublin Area to address leaks and maximise treatment capacity.
She said: "While there is no shortage of rainfall to fill our raw water reservoirs, demand is now at or above the capacity of what the city’s water treatment plants can produce daily."
"This is despite significant and sustained investment by Uisce Éireann in recent years in the water supply infrastructure," she added.
The company said there are a number of key things that the public can do to help protect water supplies including checking properties for leaks, reporting issues to Uisce Eireann, ensuring taps are turned off after use, dripping taps are fixed and being mindful of water usage.
Uisce Éireann said water can be saved through an array of methods such as switching from using a bath to shower, and ensuring dishwashers and washing machines are fully loaded before use.
