Dr Harrigan says that while Ireland is fortunate to receive as much rain as it does, the national rainfall totals can conceal large regional differences.<\/p>\n
This means rain falling in Mayo, Kerry or Donegal cannot automatically replenish a reservoir or river supplying homes in Dublin, Kildare or Meath.<\/p>\n
It needs to fall within the relevant catchment or be transported between regions through infrastructure capable of storing, treating and carrying it.<\/p>\n
Disparity was apparent during spring this year. Met \u00c9ireann described spring 2026 as wetter than average in the west but drier in the south and east.<\/p>\n
In May 2026, Casement Aerodrome in Dublin recorded just 34% of its average monthly rainfall.<\/p>\n
How does rain become drinking water?<\/p>\n
Rain falling from the sky is not the same as treated water being available from a household tap.<\/p>\n
It must first enter a water source, then be abstracted, treated to a safe drinking water standard, stored and transported through the public network.<\/p>\n
“The problem is, it’s very difficult and expensive to treat water,” Dr Harrigan said.<\/p>\n
Some rain is absorbed by plants or evaporates. Some runs rapidly into rivers and eventually reaches the sea. How much becomes available to a public supply depends on factors including soil conditions, the location and intensity of the rainfall and the capacity of the local system.<\/p>\n
Dr Harrigan said Ireland is highly dependent on surface water taken from rivers and lakes, with a smaller proportion coming from groundwater.<\/p>\n
“All that rain isn\u2019t directly transferred into the water in the tap that we can drink,” he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0024babd-614.jpg\"\/)
\nDr Shaun Harrigan, Assistant Professor of Hydroclimatology at Maynooth University<\/p>\n
“It has to first fall on the ground, filter through our soils into our rivers, streams and lakes. It has to be collected.”<\/p>\n
Why doesn’t rain immediately solve water shortages?<\/p>\n
River levels are generally lower between spring and early autumn, the same period during which households and businesses tend to consume more water.<\/p>\n
Demand can therefore increase at the same time as less untreated water is entering the system.<\/p>\n
“Water demand is higher in the summer when we have the least amount of water available either from rainfall point of view or that it’s stored and treated,” Dr Harrigan said.<\/p>\n
A day of heavy rain does not necessarily reverse the effects of a prolonged dry period. Dry soil may initially absorb the water, while depleted rivers, reservoirs and groundwater can take considerably longer to recover.<\/p>\n
Dr Harrigan described drought as a process that moves through the water cycle. It can begin with below-average rainfall, followed by reduced soil moisture and lower river flows, before eventually affecting groundwater.<\/p>\n
Water visible in a river during summer may have entered the ground during the previous winter or even several winters earlier.<\/p>\n
What does a hosepipe ban achieve?<\/p>\n
Hosepipe bans are intended to protect supplies for essential uses and reduce the possibility of more severe restrictions or outages.<\/p>\n
Dr Sarpong Hammond Antwi, a Research Fellow at Dundalk Institute of Technology whose work includes water management and governance, said the purpose is to reduce a temporary surge in consumption.<\/p>\n
“A hosepipe ban is an emergency demand-management measure,” he said.<\/p>\n
“The sole purpose is to reduce peak demand and allow treated-water reservoirs to recover.”<\/p>\n
Hosepipes are targeted because a large quantity of treated drinking water can be consumed quickly for uses that are not considered essential.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/00103bc7-614.jpg\"\/)
\nVartry Reservoir at Roundwood in Co Wicklow<\/p>\n
The present order is scheduled to remain in force until 26 August, although Uisce \u00c9ireann has said it may be lifted earlier or extended depending on weather conditions and the availability of water.<\/p>\n
It applies to domestic users and to non-commercial activities at commercial premises. Businesses whose commercial operations require water are subject to specific exemptions.<\/p>\n
What about the leaks?<\/p>\n
Public concern about hosepipe bans frequently centres on the amount of treated drinking water lost through leaks before it reaches consumers.<\/p>\n
Uisce \u00c9ireann reported that approximately 38% of water entering the public network was lost nationally through leakage in 2024. The corresponding estimate for the Greater Dublin Area was 32%, while the rate outside the GDA was 41%.<\/p>\n
In practical terms, a national leakage rate of 38% means approximately 38 litres of every 100 litres entering the distribution network are lost.<\/p>\n
This water has already been abstracted and treated before escaping through public mains, service connections or pipes on private properties.<\/p>\n
Dr Antwi said this represents the loss not only of water but of the work and resources required to make it safe to drink.<\/p>\n
“For every 100 litres of drinking water treated and placed into public supply, roughly 36 litres goes to waste,” he said.<\/p>\n
Leakage is not unique to Ireland and cannot realistically be eliminated entirely. Water networks in every country lose some water, and replacing every pipe may cost considerably more than the value of the water saved.<\/p>\n
Ireland’s rate, however, remains high. According to the European Commission, Ireland lost 36% of its treated water through leakage in 2024, compared with an EU average of 23%.<\/p>\n
The Commission said this placed Ireland among the countries with the highest leakage rates in the EU, despite a reduction from 49% in 2014 under Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s National Leakage Reduction Programme.<\/p>\n
Uisce \u00c9ireann has committed to reducing national leakage to 25% by the end of 2030, with a target of below 20% for the Greater Dublin Area.<\/p>\n
The utility says it has achieved reductions through pressure management, replacing damaged mains and identifying previously undetected leaks.<\/p>\n
Its performance has also been criticised by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. In its most recent revenue-control decision, the regulator found that Uisce \u00c9ireann had “substantially failed” to meet its leakage-reduction targets during the previous regulatory period and applied a \u20ac20 million financial adjustment.<\/p>\n
Leakage, however, does not provide the entire explanation for supply pressure.<\/p>\n
Even if Uisce \u00c9ireann reaches its targets, its water-resource plans indicate that additional treatment, storage and supply infrastructure will still be required as the population grows.<\/p>\n
Is population growth increasing the pressure?
\n![\"Currach](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/00242303-614.jpg\"\/)
\nThe River Liffey provides approximately 85% of the water requirements of 1.7 million people<\/p>\n
Ireland’s population was estimated at almost 5.46 million in April 2025, an increase of more than 78,000 in one year.<\/p>\n
Much of the country\u2019s recent population growth has been concentrated in urban areas, where new homes, schools and businesses require connections to existing water supplies.<\/p>\n
Dr Antwi said water infrastructure must be considered alongside new housing and population growth.<\/p>\n
“We shouldn\u2019t just be planning a new housing estate or a new neighbourhood,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Before we put up buildings, we should be able to think about the treatment plant, reservoir and water, and make sure that there is a buffer during high demand.”<\/p>\n
The Greater Dublin Area demonstrates the scale of that challenge.<\/p>\n
According to Uisce \u00c9ireann, the River Liffey provides approximately 85% of the water requirements of 1.7 million people across Dublin and parts of Meath, Kildare and Wicklow.<\/p>\n
That dependence means an incident involving the Liffey catchment or one of its major treatment plants could affect a substantial proportion of the State\u2019s population.<\/p>\n
Uisce \u00c9ireann says population and economic growth, together with climate change, mean the region will require 34% more water by 2044.<\/p>\n
Would taking water from the Shannon solve the problem?<\/p>\n
Uisce \u00c9ireann’s proposed Water Supply Project for the Eastern and Midlands Region is intended to provide an additional source for the east.<\/p>\n
Under the proposal, water would be abstracted from the lower River Shannon at Parteen Basin in Co Tipperary, downstream of Lough Derg.<\/p>\n
It would be treated at a new facility at Birdhill, Co Tipperary and transported through a 172km pipeline to a reservoir at Peamount in Co Dublin, with the potential to supply communities along the route.<\/p>\n
Dr Harrigan said transferring water between regions is not unusual internationally.<\/p>\n
“That plan to move water from where it\u2019s wet and stored naturally through lakes to the east, where more people are living, is a very common way to move water around,” he said.<\/p>\n
However, the proposal is a large and costly infrastructure project and requires detailed planning and environmental assessment.<\/p>\n
![\"Save](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0024184f-614.jpg\"\/)
\nProtesters oppose Uisce \u00c9ireann’s plans to extract water from the river to serve Dublin<\/p>\n
Its critics have questioned whether greater leakage reduction, conservation and smaller regional projects could reduce the need for Shannon water, while Uisce \u00c9ireann maintains that leakage reduction alone cannot provide the additional capacity and alternative source required.<\/p>\n
Are water supply issues linked to climate change?<\/p>\n
Periods of drought are not new to Ireland.<\/p>\n
Met \u00c9ireann records show that 1976 remains the driest summer in an 85-year national series, while other prolonged dry periods occurred before current levels of global warming.<\/p>\n
The hosepipe ban itself therefore cannot be explained solely by climate change.<\/p>\n
However, higher temperatures increase evaporation from soil, rivers and reservoirs and can also cause demand to rise. Climate projections indicate that Ireland will have to prepare for changes in the timing and intensity of rainfall, including a heightened risk of summer water shortages.<\/p>\n
“Ireland is not immune to periods of low rainfall and drought,” Dr Harrigan said.<\/p>\n
“They’ve happened in the past. They will continue to happen in the future and probably become more extreme as we shift between more extreme wet and dry periods.”<\/p>\n
The question facing the public-water system is consequently not only how much rain Ireland receives over an entire year, but how resilient individual supplies are when that rain temporarily stops.<\/p>\n
Frequent rainfall may give Ireland an important natural advantage. But the water must still fall in the relevant catchment, replenish the source, pass through sufficient treatment and storage capacity and reach consumers through a network in which a significant proportion is currently lost.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland is one of Europe’s wettest countries. Depending on where you live, rain falls on between 199 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":560338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-560337","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=560337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/560337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/560338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=560337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=560337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=560337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}