75 reports weekly of hosepipe ban breaches
Around 75 people a week are reporting breaches of the nationwide hosepipe ban, which will continue until the end of August, despite yesterday’s heavy downpours across the country.
Irish Water received just over 300 calls from people reporting what they perceive to be violations of the water conservation order.
“As yet, no fines have been levied but this remains an option open to Irish Water,” a spokesperson said yesterday.
The original hosepipe ban had been due to expire on Tuesday but Irish Water said the extension is needed because of the ongoing drought.
The utility has warned the situation will remain critical up to and possibly beyond mid-August.
Night-time pressure restrictions in the greater Dublin area will remain in place for another two weeks.
Irish Water officials have started visiting the homes of those who have been reported to be in breach of the hosepipe ban.
The purpose of the visits will be to remind householders of the water conservation order, the critical nature of the drought, and the impact of wasting water on the local community.
“The visits have been prioritised based on the severity of the water usage,” said the spokesperson.
Irish Water said it is very encouraged by the efforts of homeowners and businesses to conserve water during the ongoing drought.
The utility has received almost 700 calls seeking advice and support since the water restrictions were introduced.
The board of Irish Water, which met yesterday, found the most severe conditions continue to be in the east and the south, where the rivers, lakes and groundwater tables are at record lows.
Latest flow data from the Office of Public Works shows that over half of rivers are at levels that were previously unheard of in July.
Met Éireann has indicated that in the short-term, rainfall will not be at a level that will assist the recovery of raw water sources, particularly in the east and south of the country.
Saturday will start off mostly cloudy over the N half of the country w/ further rain. Sunshine & scattered showers will follow from the S. But rain will linger in N counties for much of the day. Highs of 14 to 18°C with moderate to fresh, gusty W to SW winds. pic.twitter.com/fsMRdrdnmm
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) July 27, 2018
The extension of the water conservation measures was announced as Met Éireann issued a yellow weather warning for thundery downpours in a number of areas last night.
Forecaster Liz Gavin said another band of rain would come in from the south tonight bringing more heavy downfalls.
“There will be some showers around during the early days of next week but they won’t be as heavy as the thundery downpours over the weekend,” she said.
Monday will be fair at first but showers in the west in the early part of the day will become more widespread as the day goes on. Winds will be from the southwest bringing temperatures typical for the time of year.
The days up to midweek will be similar.
