Two weeks’ rain or water shut off
With demand for water at ‘critical levels’, householders may face further restrictions, writes Maeve Sheehan
Expert warns crisis imminent Businesses face restrictions
HOUSEHOLDERS should prepare for night-time water outages by the end of this month unless the country gets two weeks of consistent rain, a leading climate expert has warned.
As the drought crisis deepens, Irish Water confirmed this weekend that turning off the water for a short period at night could be “coming down the line”.
However, Professor Peter Thorne, of Maynooth University, said that without rain, there could be “significant water outages” by late July or August and warned that the drought could also bring crop failures and rising food prices.
Irish Water’s crisis management team, which has been meeting over the weekend, is to discuss further water conservation options tomorrow, including suspending household supplies overnight, according to sources.
The Government has also been told that water restrictions might be extended to commercial businesses which currently conserve water on a voluntary basis, according to informed sources. If necessary, the national hosepipe ban, which came into force last week, may also be extended beyond July 31.
Prof Thorne, who is the director of the Irish Climate Analysis and Research Unit, said the crisis could be more imminent than we think.
“Forget about this idea of crisis by September. It’s going to be a lot sooner than that,” he said.
“You are talking about mandatory outages, reduced pressure, which will have even greater impact on homes on the edges of towns and cities, and domestic properties will be hit first to save water supplies for hospitals and other crucial infrastructure. That’s when it will move from being the Government’s problem to become a personal crisis for a lot of people.”
Prof Thorne said the country needed two to four weeks of consistent day-to-day rainfall if a water shortage crisis is to be avoided. Forecasts predict little if any rainfall in the next few days.
“If we don’t get that [level of rainfall] we are going to face huge problems in terms of crop failure, rising costs of food which will need to be imported in from abroad and it is going to significantly impact our pockets,” Prof Thorne said.
A spokesperson for Irish Water said cutting off the water supply to households for short periods at night-time was something that could be “coming down the line” but added that many factors would come into play.
“All we can say is we are reviewing the situation on a daily basis,” the spokesperson said. “Over the early part of this week we will be looking at the impact of the hosepipe ban nationally.”
She said that by saving water now, households would be protecting their supply over future months. “We are hammering home the message that we need to conserve water. The more everybody does now, the less restrictions will have to be implemented in the future,” she said.
Irish Water is also asking people to think about their water usage, not only at home but in terms of using services that are heavy on water use, such as car washes and laundromats.
“If it is not necessary, avoid it,” the spokesperson said. “Every drop counts.”
The effects of the drought continue to cause disruption across the country, with wild fires burning in several places and water restrictions in place in 14 counties.
The Department of Agriculture has extended its Red Alert Warning for forest fires until Wednesday.
Met Eireann warned the dry, warm weather would continue until at least Thursday.
AFTER two weeks of uninterrupted sunshine, the cracks are literally beginning to show in Ireland’s arid landscape. Drought conditions are expected to continue, with forecasters predicting clear skies and some humidity but no rain for at least another week.
A month-long hosepipe ban introduced last Monday in the Dublin region was extended nationwide on Friday. Water restrictions remain in place in 31 townlands in 14 counties, with supplies being continuously monitored by Irish Water.
Should the drought continue, restrictions such as the hosepipe ban will be extended beyond July 31. As autumn approaches, householders could face further restrictions such as lowering pressure at night-time and even cutting off water altogether, particularly in areas with high demand.
The unprecedented heat means demand has risen to “critical levels”, according to Irish Water. The fear is that reserve water supplies for winter and spring will be depleted, threatening supply for many months to come. The utility set up a crisis management team last week and a drought team to monitor the country’s supplies on a daily basis.
Since the hosepipe ban came into effect in Dublin less than a week ago, Irish Water has received 40 reports of households using excessive water and is “following up” on each of them, according to corporate affairs director Kate Gannon. The penalty is a €125 on-the-spot fine or prosecution.
But Irish Water will enforce penalties only for persistent offenders. Instead, authorised officials will be dispatched to each household to provide conservation information and advice. Experience in the UK and elsewhere in Europe shows that informing householders rather than penalising them works best in terms of conserving water, according to Ms Gannon. “Our first contact is to provide advice and information,” she said. “There have been no fines as of yet but we are following up.”
Householders are being asked to redouble their efforts to conserve water. Usage has dropped considerably since the conservation message got out. But despite this, consumption by Dublin households was still higher than the average of 565 million litres a day for this time last year.
The biggest users of water are agriculture and commercial businesses. But restrictions on their water use is so far voluntary. Most farms have their own water sources, but with those reserves running dry and animals at risk, farmers are turning to Irish Water for supplies. The utility is avoiding placing restrictions on commercial entities, but it has contacted its top 20 customers, including companies in the pharmaceutical and hospitality sectors, about voluntarily reducing consumption.
Dublin Bus and Irish Rail are reducing the washing of their fleets. The fire service has also asked crews to draw water from open sources, such as canals. The Office of Public Works (OPW), which manages state buildings, parks and monuments, was criticised last week after images emerged of the Papal Cross in the Phoenix Park in Dublin being washed down after the hosepipe ban came into effect.
The OPW defended the work as “essential” ahead of the Pope’s attendance at the World Meeting of Families event in August, stressing that the contractor used the water required. In a statement to the Sunday Independent, the OPW said workers had been instructed to use water resources only when it was deemed essential. That extends to Aras An Uachtarain, where President Michael D Higgins presides over 22 hectares of lawns and parklands, including an extensive organic walled garden that provides vegetables, fruit and herbs for the kitchens of the Aras.
“The President has instructed staff at Aras an Uachtarain to conserve water in every way possible and calls on citizens to observe the instructions and suggestions from the relevant authorities — including the prohibition on using water hoses,” a statement from the OPW said.
“The President is acutely aware of the importance of maintaining high quality supply of adequate levels of drinking water, and the challenges associated with the current situation of prolonged dry weather and increased demand.
“The President also calls on people to reduce the health risks associated with the warm weather, to take care to avoid over-heating and to assist vulnerable members of the community in observing all relevant heat safety precautions,” the OPW statement said.
‘Householders could face no water at all during the night-time’