Fire fighters rescue baby fawn from blaze in Slieve Bloom Mountains as gorse fires burn Irish Water’s hosepipe ban is to be extended nationwide on Friday with fewer than 20 domestic users having been reported for water misuse since the measure came into force in the greater Dublin region on Monday.
The utility called on commercial entities to be “mindful” of water usage as the State remains in a period of “absolute drought” and with no rain forecast for the next 10 days.
No rainfall has been recorded at 24 of Met Éireann’s 25 weather stations during the last two weeks.
The dry weather has prompted Irish Water to extend its hosepipe ban nationwide from 8am on Friday.
Irish Water warned the ban would likely remain in place until at least July 31st.
“We have seen a reduction in demand and we would like to see that continue over the coming weeks,” she said.
“The water conservation order relates to domestic customers only but again we will continue to review this in conjunction with reviewing the weather situation in the coming days and weeks.” Irish Water also said it was making two tanker trips per day to Inis Oirr off the west coast as the volume of visitors meant the population was increasing on summer weekends from the usual 150 to some 2,000.
Coillte said fires were tackled on Thursday in the Slieve Bloom Mountains in Laois/Offaly, where a large area was burned after a blaze spread into a forest from open moorland.
It dropped approximately 300,000 litres of water using specialised equipment.
On average, five people drown in Ireland every fortnight and the risks increase during July and August.