PEOPLE HAVE BEEN advised to not leave the tap running for the entire time they are washing their hands and to not throw wipes down the toilet amid the coronavirus crisis.

Irish Water has also advised businesses to make sure there is “no unnecessary use of water” while their premises are vacant.

Speaking on RTÉ’s News at One, Yvonne Harris, Head of Customer Operations at Irish Water, said: “We often ask householders to turn off the tap while they’re brushing their teeth.

“Now we’re washing our hands for lengthy periods, so if we could turn off the tap during those periods while we’re soaping our hands, turn it back on to rinse, that would really, really help given the large volume of people who are now at home and constantly washing hands.”

Harris said it’s also “hugely important” for people not to flush wipes of any kind down the toilet in order to avoid blockages.

“Please bin those wipes, if they go down into our sewerage system we will have big problems there,” she stated.

Advice for businesses

Harris noted that, “in these very uncertain times, a number of businesses have had to make decisions either to completely close or to reduce their activity”.

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She said Irish Water is appealing to business owners and landlords of premises rented to business owners to ensure “that there is no unnecessary use of water while the business is vacant” during the Covid-19 situation.

Harris advised business owners to check if there are any leaks on their premises, which could see a large amount of water wasted, and to make sure that items such as automatic-flushing toilets and urinals are switched off.

Any leaks should be reported to Irish Water on 1850 278 278. More information about leaks and conserving water can be read here.

Harris said Irish Water is monitoring the supply of public water and wastewater services every day and hasn’t yet seen “any huge peak” on demand but that this is likely because schools and many businesses are not open as normal.

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