Irish Water has signalled it may be about to impose water restrictions in the greater Dublin area.
The utility will decide by tomorrow whether to introduce reductions in night-time supplies across the region.
Irish Water says its consulting with local authorities in Dublin, Kildare, Wicklow and Meath.
It says night-time restrictions would prevent widespread water outages in the autumn.
They're looking at 800 areas to establish where water supplies can be restricted and for how long while minimizing the impact to homes and businesses.
A final decision is expected tomorrow - with restrictions likely to begin early next week.
Irish Water's Kate Gannon said: “Introducing restrictions was an option that Irish Water hoped could be avoided because of the inevitable impact on homes and businesses.
"We are monitoring the situation, but the weather is not changing, the rain is not coming. Something else has to be done to protect water supply and avoid widespread outages in the autumn.”
There are already over 20 schemes across the country already on restrictions, and a national hosepipe ban remains in place.
