NI water warns 'significant number' risk losing supply

Reservoir levels in Northern Ireland are already low, but if demand continues at its current rate some will run dry

A significant number of people face losing their water supply if demand continues at the current level, NI Water has warned.

A hosepipe ban may also have to be introduced, the company said.

It added areas under the greatest pressure included Cookstown and Magherafelt, which are fed from the Lough Fea reservoir.

The network supplying Newry, Banbridge and Dungannon is also struggling to cope with increased water usage.

NI Water has renewed an appeal to the public to reduce water use.

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It said it had pumped 735 million litres of water into the system on Sunday - an increase of about 30% on an average day.

Tankers are moving millions of litres to keep reservoirs topped up.

The infrastructure minister said there had been in increase in water usage due to the prolonged dry weather.

On Saturday, Northern Ireland recorded its hottest day on record when the temperature at the Ballywatticock weather station reached 31.2C.

Des Nevin of NI Water says the current usage is unsustainable

That could be exceeded this week, the Met Office has suggested.

Des Nevin, NI Water customer and operations director, said the company was "running way above what would be normal distribution input".

"Our infrastructure just can't sustain that level over a long period of time."

Speaking to the BBC's Evening Extra programme, Mr Nevin said water levels in service reservoirs, which hold treated water, are declining in "a number of areas".

"Distribution is up across the whole province, but there are some areas where the distribution network is more fit to cope with it than others," he said.

"If the demand continues, some of those reservoirs will eventually run dry and a significant number of customers could be out of supply."

'People need to act now'

He asked the public to be "very, very conscious" of the water they use, advising people to avoid running a bath or using a hosepipe.

"If everybody works with us we can get through this," he added.

While not immanent, Mr Nevin said a hosepipe ban would be enforced if people did not take action to save water.

"We don't want to go down that route, but it is an option that will be open to us," he said.

Speaking on Friday, Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said people needed "to act now to protect water levels and prevent interruptions to supply or low pressure".

"How we use our water can have a massive impact on water levels," she said.

"A hose for example uses more water in one hour than the average family uses in a whole day. Large swimming pools and pressure washers also use massive amounts of water."