Uisce Éireann has said that an extension to the hosepipe ban may have to be considered beyond 26 August.
The Head of Water Operations at Uisce Éireann, Margaret Attridge, said that a regional extension may be considered and that all options were being kept under review.
A nationwide hosepipe ban has been in place in Ireland since 24 July and it will remain in force until 26 August.
The Water Conservation Order applies to all households and prohibits the use of hosepipes for activities such as washing cars, watering gardens and filling paddling pools.
The prolonged spells of hot, dry weather this summer put drinking water supplies under pressure.
Yesterday, Met Éireann said parts of central and south Leinster are near drought or are currently experiencing drought-like conditions.
People enjoying the fine weather at Seapoint in Dublin in July
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime programme, Ms Attridge said the hosepipe ban “could potentially be extended” however she said “in parts of the country, for example in the northwest, we have seen some levels of rainfall in the last few weeks, which has made that area more stable”.
“So potentially, we can consider extending the water conservation order regionally.
“We are keeping everything under review, we’re continuing to monitor all supplies across the country. Lifting it will be dependent on a number of factors, the weather forecast, the soil moisture deficit.
“The small bits of rain that are forecast in some areas of the country over the next few days isn’t going to do much to change the soil moisture deficit, so it won’t do much to recharge our lake and river sources,” explained Ms Attridge.
Current spell of good weather will put water sources under pressure
Ms Attridge said that the current spell of good weather forecast by Met Éireann will continue to put water sources under pressure, and that restrictions are in place to protect water supplies.
“Supplies across the country are already under pressure due to the warm weather we’ve had over the summer and Met Éireann are now forecasting another period of really settled warm weather,” she said.
“That is going to continue to put our sources under pressure. We do see increase in water usage and demand during warm weather and that is why we put in place… the hosepipe ban.
“It remains in place until 26 August and that’s really to protect the supplies to make sure we have enough water to supply our communities and businesses throughout the days ahead,” she said.
Ms Attridge said despite people making an effort to conserve water, supplies still remain under pressure.
“We have seen a reduction in demand across the country and that’s really helping us to keep water flowing in most schemes. There are some schemes, however, that remain under pressure.
“In other schemes, we have actually had to put in place some nighttime restrictions whereby we turn off water by night. It allows the reservoirs to fill during the night and then we have enough water to supply people throughout the day,” added Ms Attridge.