A HOSEPIPE ban will remain in place throughout the country, Irish Water insists, despite recent rainfall.
Irish Water appealed to the public to renew their efforts to conserve water and save it for handwashing and other essential activities.
It added that the hosepipe ban - brought in under a Water Conservation Order - is remaining in place because the soil is still dry after the lack of rainfall in March, April and May.
A spokeswoman for Irish Water said: “The need for the Water Conservation Order was due to the exceptionally dry spring and the driest May since 1850 in some areas.
“Unfortunately, short periods of rainfall, such as those we have experienced last week, are not sufficient to return raw water sources to normal levels.”
Irish Water insists that a return to normal rainfall levels is needed to push back the drought currently seen in 38 local water schemes throughout the country - and could be in place beyond the end of July.
The spokeswoman said: “A minimum accumulation of 100mm rainfall and a return to normal precipitation levels thereafter would be needed to offset the impact of the unseasonal lack of rainfall since March.
“If the situation improves we will consider lifting the order but if the conditions do not improve or deteriorate we will have to consider extending the Water Conservation Order beyond 21 July.”
A Met Eireann forecaster also said that the ground remains dry - but showers this week could bring some much needed rainfall.
Rainfall throughout last week was patchy, falling heavily in some places while not so much in others.
On Friday, 7.6mm of rain fell in Met Eireann’s Phoenix Park station, while 15.9mm fell in Ballyhaise. None fell at Shannon Airport.
Earlier in the week, the Delphi Lodge in Co Mayo saw 72mm of rainfall in just a few hours.
Deirdre Lowe, forecaster with Met Eireann, told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “It’s taking a while for the heavy rainfall to saturate into the ground.
“But hopefully things will improve with respect to that in the coming week.
“There’s still a soil moisture deficit, which means that the soil needs water.”
But Ms Lowe offered some hope for those anxious to water their plants.
She said: “In a week’s time the soil moisture deficit won’t be as bad in a lot of places. The rain will help that, and particularly parts of the southwest will improve quite a lot.”
