The water supply in Dublin is reaching capacity and is 'on a knife edge', the Government has been warned. 

The Water Forum has expressed concern that increased drought due to climate change in the region will have a significant impact - unless a long-term plan is put in place.

According to Uisce Éireann, in the past year alone water demand has increased by the equivalent of 120,000 homes in the region.

“There is a problem right now where Usice Éireann are looking to get people conserve water in winter,” Water Forum Chair Dr Matt Crowe said.

“Dublin’s water supply has been described as ’on a knife edge’, I think these most recent calls for conserving water are an illustration of that.”

A man holds a glass under a running tap. Photo: Marius Becker/dpa

Dr Crowe said action on water conservation, particularly in Dublin has to be ramped up.

“Having a much greater focus on water conservation will help in all sorts of different ways,” he said.

“This is something that the forum has been pushing hard now for the last year or so.

“We’ve been calling on the Government to introduce a national strategy for conservation.”

On average, 628 million litres of water is used every day in the greater Dublin area - 13 million more than the system is designed to produce.

Main image: Tap water being poured from a tap in to a glass.