Margaret Attridge, Head of Water Operations at Uisce Éireann, has defended the introduction of a hotline where people can report incidents of “non-essential” water use.
“We’re providing a hotline because we’re not asking people to confront people. We don’t want to cause any neighbourhood disputes here. People can contact us and we will follow up with individuals,” she told Newstalk Breakfast with Anton Savage, reports Breaking News.
Uisce Éireann is also appealing to people to check for leaks and to refrain from activities such as washing their car and watering their lawn.
A six-week hosepipe ban will come into force for six counties from Thursday 16 July, reports Breaking News.
The ban will apply in Dublin, parts of Kildare, Meath, Wicklow, South Tipperary and parts of Wexford.
“If people want to find out if their area is included in the hosepipe ban, in the water conservation order, there are maps available on our website and by going on to our website and putting in your code, you’ll understand whether you’re included in the area of the hosepipe ban or not,” reports Breaking News.
Attridge explained that the hosepipe ban prohibits the use of a hosepipe to water the garden, wash the car, fill a paddling pool or an ornamental pond that does not contain fish.
There are other ways to water the garden, she said, with expert advice available on using watering cans, focusing on the root zone and carrying out watering early in the morning or late in the evening to reduce evaporation, reports Breaking News.
A significant amount of water is wasted on non-essential purposes, she added, which is why the hosepipe ban and water conservation measures are being introduced “so that we can all work together to protect water for essential purposes.”
“It could get to the stage where the communities that these people live in are put on night-time restrictions.
“That the service to their community, to hospitals in their community, to care homes in their communities, does get impacted. And that is why we are bringing in this hosepipe ban, the water conservation order, to get people who live in these communities to work with us so that we can all work together to protect water for essential purposes,” reports Breaking News.
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