Uisce Éireann is urging the public to help reduce water use and report leaks across the Greater Dublin Area as demand has now reached unprecedented levels, with demand for water currently exceeding the capacity of the water treatment plants in the region.

The appeal follows an extensive programme of work by Uisce Éireann and water services crews across the region to detect and repair bursts and leaks across the network, with a large increase reported in recent weeks.

Daily water use in the Greater Dublin Area has grown by over 40 million litres since last year due to a range of factors, including a growing population and increased economic activity.

Recent weather events which have led to bursts on the network have now pushed that demand further to unprecedented levels. As a result, demand for water currently exceeds the capacity of the water treatment plants in the region.

This simply means that more water is being consumed every day than the capital’s water treatment infrastructure is capable of producing. Storage in the city’s treated water reservoirs is also approaching critically low levels.

Uisce Éireann’s Head of Water Operations, Margaret Attridge, said:

“This week, daily demand in the Greater Dublin Area was the highest on record, reaching over 630 million litres per day. This is an increase of 40 million litres more than this time last year – the equivalent daily use of almost 120,000 homes.

“We know that water is a precious resource that must go through a complex treatment process to ensure that it is safe to drink. While there is no shortage of rainfall to fill our raw water reservoirs, demand is now at or above the capacity of what the city’s water treatment plants can produce on a daily basis. This is despite significant and sustained investment by Uisce Éireann in recent years in the water supply infrastructure.

“Our crews are working across the Greater Dublin Area to tackle leaks and maximise treatment capacity. Some localised night-time restrictions have also been introduced to enable leak detection and repair work, and to help manage reservoir levels. We are urgently appealing to the public for their help to reduce the overall demand by conserving water and avoiding the preventable loss of water where possible. By working together consumers and businesses can play a part in ensuring a sustainable supply of drinking water for everyone and avoid more widespread disruption to supplies.”

Uisce Éireann has put in place a number of measures to help tackle demand, including ramping up leak detection and repair, pressure management across its network and optimising treatment capacity at its plants. Non-essential maintenance work has also been deferred to maximise the volume of water available for supply. The water company has also been working closely with the business community and larger users to manage demand and conserve water where possible.