With temperatures continue to sore, Northern Ireland’s risk of a hosepipe ban is closer they ever, as water levels are becoming extremely low in our reservoirs.
Today recorded yet another record-breaking temperature of 31.3°c in Castlederg, beating the previous 31.1°c set on Saturday, the highest ever recorded in Northern Ireland.
Despite no official hosepipe ban in place, NI water is asking that householders urgently need to take action to conserve water.
“Please reduce unnecessary use to protect supplies. If everyone simply uses the water they actually need, there will be plenty for everyone.” NI Water have said.
“Demand is outstripping supply. We need to ensure everyone has sufficient water for hygiene and daily use.”
Director of Customer Operations, Des Nevin, has said: “If demand continues at this level it will lead to failures in our network and some customers will lose supply or suffer low pressure. A number of customers over the past few days are already experiencing this, especially those on high ground.
“On Monday 19th July, we put 723 million litres of water into our distribution system, this is over 145 million litres more than normal, equivalent to 1.8million baths!
“We are asking our customers to help us, especially over the next few days when temperatures continue to be high. We know from the increase in our night usage some customers are leaving sprinklers and hoses on overnight, please stop.
“A hose uses more water in one hour than the average family uses in a whole day. “A pressure washer can also be a massive drain, so please think about whether the task is really essential at the moment.”
“While it is tempting, please avoid using swimming or paddling pools. Filling a 12ft swimming pool uses the same amount of water 500 people use for daily handwashing.
“We want everyone to enjoy their home and garden, we just need people to think about how they use their water and if what they are doing is essential.”
