Water supply in Dublin area on knife-edge

THE water supply to the country’s largest urban area is on a knife-edge, with senior managers warning that members of the public will have to conserve water to ensure there are no future shortages.

Demand in the greater Dublin area, which takes in households in six local authority regions, has been outstripping supply. The daily pressure on supplies comes at a time when there is traditionally an increase in demand in the summer months.

Figures released by Dublin City Council for 2009 showed regional demand stood at 540 million litres a day (MLD), whereas production stood at 518MLD.