Up to 35,000 Meath households could be facing disruption to their water supply after Meath County Council yesterday issued an urgent water conservation notice for the county, writes John Downes
The move, which is being accompanied by a national radio advertisement campaign, follows similar measures introduced in recent weeks by councils elsewhere, partly as a result of the fine weather.
Citing significantly increased demand on water supplies and "the excessive use by certain consumers during the fine weather", Meath County Council said it is experiencing severe difficulties in replenishing reservoirs in some parts of the county.
As a result a 24-hour supply cannot now be guaranteed, leading the council to yesterday introduce direct conservation measures. The measures include the reduction of water supply during off-peak hours - normally between 9pm and 6am - in all areas served by the public water mains. A spokeswoman for the council yesterday confirmed that there are approximately 35,000 domestic connections to the public supply in the council area.
"As a result some customers will [ also] experience reduced water pressure with a possible total loss of water supply during these hours," the spokeswoman said.
The council is also asking residents to conserve water for essential use only, and to refrain from using hoses or sprinklers, watering gardens and washing cars.
A spokeswoman for Fingal County Council yesterday said it had issued a similar water conservation notice last week, which will continue until the end of the summer if necessary. Lar Spain, senior engineer with the council, said it could "conservatively estimate" that demand for water increases by up to 10 per cent during dry weather.
"Some customers will have reduced water pressure at night with a possible total loss of water supply at off-peak times," he said.
A spokesman for Wicklow County Council said recent disruption to water supplies around the Enniskerry area have been rectified.
He said the council has not issued a water conservation notice.