Delivery of clean, safe drinking water is central to what we do. Every day we supply 570 million litres of great tasting, clean and safe drinking water to 860,000 households and businesses. Around 200,000 water quality tests are undertaken by us every year to check that our drinking water meets the required standards. We measure the quality of drinking water at water treatment works, service reservoirs and consumers’ taps across Northern Ireland.

The fresh water we use to produce our high quality drinking water is predominantly taken from Lough Neagh, local rivers and a range of upland sources, all of which are rich in natural organic matter. Reservoirs are designed to store the rain that falls during the year, so that we can have a continuous supply of water within our homes, businesses, schools and hospitals during planned maintenance and unplanned events at our water treatment works. However, with population growth and changing weather patterns due to climate change, we are now starting to experience prolonged spells of low rainfalls.  April 2021 has been the second consecutive dry April and ranks as one of the top three driest since 1980.
  
To conserve our water supply and reservoir levels we must become more resilient against the impact of climate change.  We can do this by becoming more water efficient in our everyday use of water. Water efficiency is so important to ensure there is enough water for everyone now and in the future. 

To help play your part in saving water why not try our online water audit at https://www.getwaterfit.co.uk to discover simple ways to save water around your home and claim free water saving items to help reduce your use.

To learn more on saving water tips visit https://www.niwater.com/how-to-save-water/