Decision on whether to lift hosepipe ban will be made next week

Following recent heavy rainfall and improving river and ground water conditions Irish Water is reviewing the need for the hosepipe ban.

The National Water Conservation Order was put in place on June 9 and was expected to remain in place until July 21. It was issued in a bid to safeguard water supplies for essential purposes, in particular water needed for sanitation purposes during the COVID-19 crisis.

Met Éireann confirmed that May 2020 was the driest since 1850 and continued dry weather was forecast. When the Water Conservation Order was issued 27 of Irish Water's 900 drinking water schemes, were in drought with another 50 at risk of going into drought. Thereafter the situation deteriorated rapidly with the number of schemes in drought or at risk of drought peaking at 98.

Above average rainfall has arrived in many areas of the country over the past couple of weeks, resulting in the recovery of some of the supplies that were in drought or at risk of drought. Currently only 22 schemes remain in drought and whereas a further 63 are at risk, the overall numbers are trending downwards, however the situation is not uniform across the country.

Fragile

Irish Water is continuing to monitor these water sources as their recovery is fragile and subject to change. Early next week Irish Water will again meet with Met Eireann, the OPW, the EPA and other key stakeholders to discuss the impact of the recent rainfall with consideration to lifting or partially lifting the Water Conservation Order.

Commenting on the evolving situation, the Water Irish Water’s Operations Lead for Cavan Peter Gallagher said, “While some areas of the country have had significant rainfall it has not been equally distributed in all of the areas that are most in need. It is encouraging to see the improvement in so many of the water sources, but this recovery is fragile. That’s why input from Met Eireann on the forecast and the OPW and EPA who monitor the levels of lakes and rivers is so important.”

For the hosepipe ban to continue to be in place, certain criteria laid out in law need to be met.

"We are now in a position where we need to judge whether the deficiency of water continues to satisfy the criteria set out in the Water Services Act and if this criteria can be applied nationally or whether we can remove the Water Conservation Order for certain parts of the country.

“It is still essential that members of the public in County Cavan continue to conserve water and form good household habits at this time. Any non-essential use of water should be discouraged, whether we are in a drought or not.”

“We would like to thank the people of County Cavan for their efforts in conserving water in their homes and gardens over the past number of weeks and our large water users who have worked proactively with us to use water more efficiently in their businesses.”