Irish Water has issued a six-week national hosepipe ban in order to safeguard water supplies for essential purposes, due to come into effect tonight.
The National Water Conservation Order, commonly known as hosepipe ban, comes as demand for water supplies is exacerbated by the warm weather and the reopening of businesses as part of
phase 2 of lockdown restrictions.
It means that the use of garden hosepipes will be prohibited, as will 'other non-essential uses of water by domestic users and commercial premises for non-commercial activities.'
Using a hosepipe for the following activities will be banned from 00:01am on Tuesday June 9 until 00:00am on Tuesday July 21:
- watering a garden
- cleaning a private motor-vehicle using a domestic hosepipe
- cleaning a private leisure boat
- filling or maintaining a domestic swimming or paddling pool (except when using handheld containers filled directly from a tap)
- filling or maintaining a domestic pond (excluding fish ponds)
- filling or maintaining an ornamental fountain (with the exception of such use for commercial purposes)
- filling or replenishing an artificial pond, lake or similar application.
Niall Gleeson, Managing Director of Irish Water said: "It is very clear from Irish Water’s data that that warm weather creates a surge in demand of water. Such weather brings people into their gardens and makes the use of hoses more likely. Similarly, with children confined to home, it can be tempting to use paddling pools etc., however, using a hosepipe for one hour is the equivalent of the daily water usage of an average family and this is evidently a non-essential use of water."
More information on the hosepipe ban can be found
here.
