Water rationing could affect thousands of houses in Laois unless there is more rain soon.
Laois County Council informed cathaoirleach Cllr Padraig Fleming that the water levels are very low in the reservoir at Wolfhill, which could lead to the rationing.
“If it remains the same for next 3 Days they will then have to ration water,” Cllr Fleming posted on social media.
While there was some rain on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, Cllr Fleming confirmed that this was not enough, however.
“This mainly affects The Swan/ Wolfhill/Newtown/Doonane/Crettyard/ Tolerton/Mayo. Please Conserve,” he said.
“The council has been monitoring it for the last week or so,” Cllr Fleming said.
“We could be looking at a situation where water is cut off from midnight until 6 am to help the water build up,” he said.
“The council is trying to get clearance from Irish Water to open up a supplementary well at Tolerton, which we were able to do a few years ago,” Cllr Fleming said.
Source
He said the water quality of this source was good when used in recent years.
“That would help it a lot,” he said.
The issue of a secure water supply has come to the fore in Laois on a number of occasions in recent weeks.
An interruption of water supply in Stradbally was put down to an ‘act of God’ last week when a pipe burst.
Earlier this week, approximately 3,500 homes in the Rathdowney and Galmoy areas lost their supply following a problem with a pump in the Galmoy treatment plant.
The mechanical failure of a pump was subsequently repaired and allowing water to re-enter the network.
Affected homes had the option of collecting water from Johnstown National School but were advised to boil it before use, as a precaution.
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