Kildare Residents Asked To Be Mindful Of Their Water Usage, Following Increase In Water Demand

The advice comes as multiple water outages and supply disruptions have occurred in the county in recent weeks

Following a significant increase in water usage by households and businesses in the current spell of warm weather, Uisce Éireann are asking customers to be mindful of their usage, allow supply to catch up with demand and enable reservoirs to fully replenish.

Speaking about conserving water, Uisce Éireann’s Eoghan Forristal, said: “There has been a noticeable increase in water demand across Kildare this past week.

"We are asking customers across the county to conserve water to give the reservoirs time to replenish which are now running low. Any reduction that customers can make in their usage can collectively result in significant supply improvements for all homes and businesses.”

Water-saving tips from Uisce Éireann: 

• Leave the hose in the shed: Use a rose head watering can to water your plants instead of a hose or sprinkler. Running a hose for just one hour uses as much water as a family would typically need in an entire day.
• Bucket and sponge for your car: Using a bucket and sponge to wash your car can save hundreds of litres of water compared to using a hose or power washer.
• Turn off the tap: Brushing your teeth with the tap running wastes up to six litres of water per minute. Turning it off while brushing can reduce that to just one litre. 
• Switch to a shower: Showers use about half the amount of water as baths. Invest in water saving appliances such as water efficient taps and shower heads.
• Shorter showers: With the average shower using seven litres of water per minute by turning your five-minute shower into four minutes, you could save up to seven litres of water per day.
• Fully load your appliances: Always ensure your dishwasher and washing machine are fully loaded before use. A typical washing machine uses approximately 65 litres of water, and a dishwasher uses around 20 litres per cycle. By ensuring they are fully loaded, not only will you conserve water, but you will also reduce your energy bills. 

This advice comes as water supply disruption is planned for Allenwood and surrounding areas this week, to allow for the installation of new pipes.

In a statement to Kfm News, Uisce Éireann said the works are confined to the Derrymullen area, and "will only affect a small number of properties."

The supply interruptions will take place on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday between 8am and 5pm.

There are also essential maintenance works being carried out today in Athy, which may cause supply disruption to Athy, Stradowe, Blackparks and surrounding areas.