Drought risk in five Offaly areas and burst water main hits one village

PEOPLE have been asked by Uisce Éireann to conserve water with five water sources in Offaly now at high risk of entering drought status.

The water conservation appeal was made on Friday (August 15) when Uisce Éireann said it was actively monitoring all water supplies across Offaly.

The supplies at high risk of entering drought are in Busherstown (south Offaly), Rahan, Lisduff (south Offaly), Clara, and Ferbane.

In a separate announcement today (Monday, August 18), the State water utility said repairs to a burst water main may cause supply disruptions to Frankford, Kinnitty Road, Kilcormac and surrounding areas.

Works are scheduled to take place until 6pm on Monday and Uisce Éireann recommended to water users that they allow three to four hours after the estimated restoration time for their supply to fully return.

The utility said it was investigating reports of supply disruptions affecting Kilcormac and surrounding areas.

In its water conservation appeal last Friday, Uisce Éireann said more than 51 water supplies across the country were officially in drought status.

Uisce Éireann says to maintain “normal” supply levels, it has implemented a range of interventions, including tankering water to reservoirs, nighttime restrictions, and pressure management.

These measures are essential to safeguard water availability and ensure continuity of service during this prolonged dry period, it said.

By taking what it says are “some simple steps” to conserve water at home, in the garden, and at work, everyone in Offaly can help protect the water supplies for their community.

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The tips include: leave the hose and power washer in the shed and use a watering can for the garden. Running a hose for one hour uses the same amount of water as a family need for a full day; use a bucket and sponge instead of a hose or power washer for a home car wash; don’t let the tap run, brushing your teeth with the tap running can use up to six litres per minute; brushing your teeth with the tap off will use a more modest one litre of water.

Other tips are: use shower instead of bath, the average bath uses 80 litres of water compared to an average shower using 49 litres in seven minutes; turning your five-minute shower into four minutes, could save up to seven litres of water per day; always ensure your dishwasher and washing machines are fully loaded, a modern washing machine uses approximately 65 litres of water per cycle, while a dishwasher uses 20 litres.

Fionnuala Callery, Uisce Éireann, regional technical operations manager said: “Water levels in many sources are well below normal for this time of year, following a drier-than-average autumn, winter, and spring. The recent dry spell has further increased demand, putting added pressure on our network and reservoirs.”

Ms Callery added: “We’re working hard to protect and maintain supplies through the summer, but we also need the public’s help. If everyone in Offaly takes a few simple steps to reduce water use at home and in the garden, we can stretch our resources further and help maintain a normal supply.”

To help people learn more about saving water, Uisce Éireann has developed a conservation calculator so they can work out how much water they are currently saving and how they can conserve even more. The calculator is available at www.water.ie/calculator where there are also many water saving tips.

Leaks in the pubic water network can be reported by contacting Uisce Éireann 24/7 at 1800 278 278 or on water.ie

Householders are also advised to check if their home is leak free and check for running overflows and fix any dripping taps, cisterns or pipes.

Businesses can conduct a water audit to see where savings can be made, appoint water stewards who will champion water conservation and invest in water efficient devices and appliances such as dual flush toilets, mixer taps and low flow showers.

Farmers are asked to fix troughs, use dry-cleaning techniques for yards (scrapers and brushes to remove solid waste from yards and pens before hosing); divert clean plate cooler water to a tank and use it for dairy parlour washing; consider rainwater harvesting; water crops efficiently by irrigating at the right time of day, or better still at night, to meet crops’ needs and reduce losses through evaporation; do not leave running taps and hosepipes unattended, fix dripping taps and hosepipes promptly and repair overflows; avoid contamination of surface waters by reducing or eliminating access to livestock by fencing off watercourses.