Hosepipe ban lifted two weeks early due to ‘extraordinary efforts’ to reduce water use

A HOSEPIPE BAN that had been in place across 13 counties has been lifted two weeks early due to the ‘extraordinary efforts’ of businesses and households to reduce water use.

On 24 July, a water conservation order – commonly referred to as a hosepipe ban – came into effect nationwide until 26 August.

But on 24 August, Uisce Éireann extended this ban for some 13 counties until the end of September.

This impacted counties Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Meath, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow.

However, Uisce Éireann today announced that this ban has been lifted two weeks earlier than planned.

In a statement, Uisce Éireann said this “reflects an increase in rainfall and water availability, alongside extraordinary efforts made by households, businesses, farms and communities across Ireland to reduce water use”.

Uisce Éireann said these efforts “helped to protect local water supplies during one of the hottest summers and driest July on record”.

It noted that the nationwide hosepipe ban introduced in July followed a prolonged period of dry weather and “exceptionally” high demand, which had placed significant pressure on public water supplies.

Uisce Éireann’s asset strategy manager, Mairead Conlon, thanked households and communities for their “support while the water conservation order was in place”.

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The conservation order prohibited the use of a hosepipe or similar apparatus for activities such as watering a garden, cleaning a private motor vehicle, or cleaning a private leisure boat.

It also prohibited filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool, filling or maintaining a domestic pond (excluding fish ponds) and filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain, except where required for commercial purposes.

Meanwhile, Conlon encouraged the public to “continue using water wisely”.

She added that recent rainfall has improved the overall picture, but recovery “has not been the same everywhere across the country”.

Conlon said that some areas, including parts of the Greater Dublin Area, Wexford and South Tipperary, “require more time to return to the levels you would usually see at this time of year”.

She added that “continued careful use of water will help protect these local sources and support their recovery in the weeks ahead”.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Uisce Éireann remarked that “rainfall does not always lead to an immediate recovery in water sources”.

The spokesperson said that the “pace of recovery depends on a number of local factors”.

These include how much rain falls in each catchment, how dry the ground has been, local demand, reservoir storage levels, and the time it takes for water to move through rivers, lakes, reservoirs and treatment systems.

Uisce Éireann said this is why continued conservation remains important in parts of the Greater Dublin Area, Wexford and South Tipperary, “even though the national picture has improved enough” to allow the hosepipe ban to be lifted.