Water restrictions are set to continue in the greater Dublin area tonight, while repair work and restoration of reservoir levels is ongoing in many other counties, including Clare, Galway, Laois, and Sligo.
In Co Limerick, instructions to boil water which have been in place in some areas since before Christmas remain in force, while water rationing continues in parts of the county.
While some gains have been made in Dublin’s reservoir levels over recent days, a major hurdle is expected on Monday, when schools reopen after the Christmas holidays.
Dublin City Council, which is the lead water authority for Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, expects significant pressure on supply and is hoping to add 100 million litres of water to its reserve over the next few days.
Senior engineer Brian McKeown said the council needs roughly another 100 million litres in storage. He said reserves were currently about 900 million litres but needed to reach above a billion litres. As a result, overnight restrictions will take place tonight from 7pm to 7am. The situation will be reviewed tomorrow.
Full details of the areas affected have been posted on Dublin City Council's website at dublincity.ie. Tankers are currently available at Ventry Park in Cabra, Hampton Wood, St Margaret's Road, the shopping centre at Lorcan Avenue and at Captain's Road, Crumlin.
The council said the following locations may experience loss of supply due to localised problems: Old Cabra Road, Howth Road, Blackhorse Avenue, Londonbridge Road, Mount Argus Avenue, Lamb Alley, Leinster Place and parts of Crumlin.
Dublin City Council and others have also appealed to the owners and operators of car washes which use mains water to discontinue their use for the duration water-supply crisis. They have also asked owners of private cars to refrain from washing them for the moment.
In Co Wicklow, the council said there was still a shortage of water and restrictions were likely to continue for several days. Cork city council said it was happy to announce an end to night-time restrictions for water supplies.