Water supplies across the country have stabilised after more than a week of crisis in supplies from burst pipes and leaks.
A senior official at the Department of the Environment warned today it will be Wednesday before the true extent of damage to business and industry is fully assessed.
The Department of the Environment's Gerry Galvin said there are only a small number of areas where authorities are struggling to meet demand.
“Outside of Dublin things have improved fairly significantly with small pockets without water, mostly where leaks and burst mains are still being discovered,” he said.
The vast majority of supplies have been restored in Galway City, while a few problems remain in parts of Cork, Mallow and on Achill Island.
Three or four major leaks were discovered in Athlone yesterday which were being repaired and in Ennis less than 100 homes are still without full supplies.
“The local authority detection and repair crews have been working all weekend and have been successful in restoring supplies,” Mr Galvin said.
In Dublin supply is exceeding demand but Mr Galvin, principal advisor in the department’s water services division, warned it would be up to 48 hours before the full extent of damage was known in the capital.
“The next critical phase in Dublin is tomorrow when business and industry comes back to work,” he said.
Restrictions on supplies in the city will continue again tonight from 6pm until 7am and officials may enforce similar limits for at least the rest of the week.
About 5,000 leaks were reported across the 25,000km of water supply systems across the country since temperatures rose dramatically during the Christmas thaw.
“One of the most significant things is the number of leaks that were discovered on the consumer side, in businesses and in schools,” Mr Galvin said.
“And they are still being discovered.”
Keyholders were again advised to check premises before they are due to reopen.
Ireland has a water supply of 1,600 million litres every day with leaks increasing demand by about another 500 million litres at the height of the crisis.
“It’s very difficult to put a figure on what the overall leakage was but indications from around the country was that demand increased by 30 per cent above production,” Mr Galvin said.
The senior official said supplies in Dublin remained a concern, “particularly with most of the businesses and industry only getting back tomorrow.”
He also said local authorities were making efforts to replace older pipe systems but warned that installing specially designed pipes less likely to crack or snap after a big freeze and sudden thaw could take decades.
Dublin City Council has replaced 60km of pipes in the last years and plans to put in another 100km over the next two years while councils around the country are planning to refit 500km.
PA