Irish Water imposes national hosepipe ban as crisis continues

Irish Water is to expand the hosepipe ban in effect in the Greater Dublin Area to cover all areas in the Republic from 8am on Friday.

The utility said worsening conditions require the ban to be in place at least until July 31, to help protect water supplies now and over the coming months.

Met Éireann said forecasts showed no significant rainfall is likely for at least a further week while the lack of rain over the last 30 days, means drought conditions are worsening.

The ban will apply to all domestic, public water supplies and commercial premises for non-commercial activities. Non- commercial activities include watering gardens attached to business premises, Irish Water said.

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On average demand across all water resources nationally has increased by 15 per cent, a feature which Irish water said “ cannot be sustained for any period of time”.

In addition to the high demand, high levels of sunlight have caused significant evaporation in rivers, lakes and reservoirs. Irish Water said smaller groundwater supplies in particular may take many months to recover.

Shannon

Meanwhile Engineers Ireland has warned periodic water shortages will continue to worsen in the Greater Dublin Area unless water is piped from the Shannon.

In its State of Ireland 2018 - A Review of Infrastructure in Ireland report published on Wednesday the Engineers body said the State’s water and flood-prevention measures were “ inadequately maintained, unable to meet peak demand and requiring significant investment”.

Caroline Spillane, chief executive of Engineers Ireland, said water shortages faced recently by thousands of households and businesses across the Dublin, eastern and midlands regions would continue to worsen unless plans to source water from the Shannon are delivered “as soon as possible”.

The project would have capacity to meet the needs of more than 40 per cent of the Irish population beyond 2050, she said. It would be the first major new water source in the region for more than 60 years.

Although the major focus of the report is on water and flooding, Engineers Ireland has also called for immediate upgrades in the areas of transport, energy, transport, communications and waste.

The report says major projects are needed to reduce water leakage from 44 per cent to about 35 per cent. According to the document, some 118 flood relief schemes must be built and new flood and forecasting warning systems are needed.

Engineers Ireland also warned of a looming skills crisis with a shortage of “engineers and other construction professionals [which is] risking our capacity to deliver critical infrastructure projects”.

Insights

The report is based on the insights of two expert advisory panels made up of 40 engineering experts, in conjunction with a survey of 1,000 chartered engineers across Ireland.

In terms of transport the report supports the building of the Eastern Bypass road for Dublin City linking the Dublin Tunnel to the N11, multi-point tolling on the M50, more Luas lines and park-and-ride facilities, Metrolink and additional incentives for users of electric vehicles.

In the communications sector the report recommends awarding the contract for the national broadband plan “without delay” and to implement plans for 5G mobile networks.

In terms of waste management, the report calls for more incineration capacity and prioritisation of waste treatment facilities in the State, including the capacity for anaerobic digestion and biological treatment.

In the energy sector the report calls for a “deep retrofit” of homes and public buildings to reduce energy demand and increase energy efficiency.

It also wants to see some 900,000 homes that are not connected to the gas network to convert to an appropriate electric heating solution.