Councils urge public to save water as supplies feel strain

PEOPLE in Cork and Kerry are being urged to save water and confine their usage to essential purposes only.

With the tourist season getting into top gear, additional demands are being placed on diminishing supplies.

Farmers are becoming concerned about their ability to provide water for cattle. They are also worried about the effects of stunted grass and crop growth and are hoping for rain.

The prolonged dry spell is putting severe pressure on supplies, with Cork County Council reporting shortages in south and west Cork.

“We’re asking that every effort be made to conserve supplies and people should not water lawns and gardens or wash cars at this time,” a spokesperson said yesterday.

The council appealed to all consumers to restrict water usage to the absolute minimum. Also, all leaks, dripping taps and other wastage should be attended to immediately.

Senior water services engineer in west Cork, Niall O’Mahony, said there were difficulties in some isolated and elevated areas, adding that staff were “fairly well” stretched to ensure supplies were kept up.

“Other than in isolated areas, we’re doing reasonably okay up to now, but if the drought continues we’ll have to reassess the situation,” he said.

“There’s been quite a good response from the public to appeals for conservation and we’re reiterating those appeals. We need the public to co-operate to ensure supplies are equally available to call categories of consumers.”

But sources are going down and there may be a need for rationing unless rain comes soon.

Senior water services engineer in Kerry, Ger MacNamara, said water management was taking place in some areas to conserve supplies. Difficulties are being experienced with supplies in the Killorglin and Dooks area, with shortages also reported in the Barleymount area outside Killarney.

Killorglin Cllr Johnny O’Connor said while the area had year-round water shortages, the situation was now much worse.

“People have been getting only an hour, or two, of water each for the past few days. It seems the reservoir is nearly empty.”