Irish Water has said it will be “very challenging” to get the boil water notice affecting 600,000 people in Dublin, Kildare and Meath lifted today.

The Environmental Protection Agency is carrying out an audit of the Leixlip Water Treatment Plant this morning.

Irish Water says a decision on lifting the notice will be taken by the HSE with the support of the EPA.

It says its “main priority” is “the protection of human health.”

“It will be very challenging to get the boil water notice lifted today,” he said.

“We will continue to work with Fingal County Council doing everything we can to get it lifted as soon as possible and ideally before the weekend.

“At about 10am this morning the EPA will be doing an audit and a successful outcome to that audit is one of the steps needed to life the boil water notice.”

The utility has sent extra engineers to the Leixlip plant to look at ways optimise its operation and make it “more resilient at times of adverse weather.”

The boil water notice was re-issued on Monday after heavy rains caused problems at the Kildare plant.

It said the notice was issued because previous rains led to “very cloudy” water entering the Leixlip facility. It said it has two treatment plants at the facility and while the newer one was able to safely manage the influx of cloudy water, the old one was not.

The old plant supplies 20% of the overall daily water demand for the Greater Dublin Area.

Irish Water has provided advice on what actions to take during a Boil Water Notice here.