Irish Water put water restrictions into place in some areas after Storm Emma

Customers are being encouraged to conserve water where possible.

The water pressure in the greater Dublin area is going to be reduced for the next few weeks, according to Irish Water. The move, which kicks in tonight (March 5) at 7pm, will also affect parts of Wicklow, Kildare and Meath. Speaking in the aftermath of Storm Emma at the latest National Emergency Coordination Group meeting, Jerry Grant - the managing director of Irish Water - said that there's been a 10% increase in usage from Friday to Sunday. This is said to be a result of leakage from broken pipes that stopped working during the cold snap. But as the demand is continuing to rise, the levels in the reservoir is decreasing - and Irish Water say there isn't enough in the reservoirs to meet the current levels of demand. The decrease in pressure will last for 12 hours, until 7am on March 6, and is expected to affect 1.2 million people. [caption id="attachment_380983" align="alignnone" width="725"] Tiled wet floor of a bathroom with shower head spraying water. Metal drain.[/caption] The Irish Sun  report that Mr Grant said it could be weeks, possibly months, before the pressure reductions end. He said:

“Despite the huge effort that has been made, we will have significant numbers of people with water restrictions over the coming days and probably weeks. “We are clear in our mind now that we will have to have a multifaceted approach to the greater Dublin area over the coming days and weeks. “That will involve appealing to people to conserve water, it will involve pressure management during the day where we can, it will involve a lot of additional crews on the ground finding and repairing leaks.”

The pressure reduction is in place to try and ease some of the pressure while teams work on fixing the leaks and to avoid widespread outages. A statement from the company continues:

"Homes will have storage in their attic tanks and businesses should also have storage on site. On high ground and on the extremities of the network, people may experience some outages. "Irish Water, working with the four Dublin local authorities, is reviewing the situation on an hourly basis. "Vulnerable customers are being contacted to provide advice and support. "Crews have been mobilised across Dublin and prioritising the biggest bursts. "Over the weekend three bursts in the North Docklands, Infirmary Road and Skerries were repaired saving the equivalent of the daily water usage of Balbriggan which has a population of around 25,000."

Irish Water previously said that there are currently 10,500 households, businesses and farms across the country without a functioning water supply in the aftermath of Storm Emma. Customers in Cork, Galway, Kerry, Laois, Longford, Mayo, Westmeath and Wexford are currently experiencing water disruptions. Customers are advised to check www.water.ie to check on specific restrictions.