Irish Water has appealed to homes and businesses to prepare for freezing weather and to conserve water over the coming months.
With night-time temperatures set to drop to zero degrees Celsius or below over the coming days, the water utility also said steps should be taken to prevent a high volume of burst pipes.
"We are asking home- and business-owners to take some simple steps to winterproof their premises over the coming months," said Tom Cuddy, Irish Water's head of operations.
Mr Cuddy said that, “with temperatures often dipping below zero at this time of year”, the utility was appealing to “homes, businesses and those responsible for unoccupied buildings to check for leaks, whilst adhering to current public health regulations and advice, and to turn off water where it’s not needed”.
He said the utility was also appealing to customers to check in particular outside-pipes that can become frozen and burst during periods of cold weather, and to report leaks they see on the public network to the utility.
He noted that there are some simple steps to follow to avoid your pipes freezing or bursting, and these could be viewed online on Irish Water's website.
“Small efforts by everyone to conserve water wherever possible make a big difference and we would ask the public to only use what they need whilst continuing to adhere to public health advice on hand washing and hygiene regarding Covid-19,” he added.
To report a leak please contact Irish Water on 1800-278278.
