DONEGAL County Council has appealed for consumers to conserve water despite the recent heavy rain falls.

Most of the county has experienced heavy rain in recent weeks, however, a number of water supplies are still experiencing difficulties meeting demand.

A statement released by, Mr Peadar MacRory, Acting Director of Service with the council, asked consumers to play a part in conserving this precious resource.

"Water conservation is the business of everyone," Mr MacRory said.

He urged consumers to: check for faulty plumbing as dripping taps or running cisterns can account for considerable losses; check outside taps, field connections and drinking troughs on a regular basis and repair any faults and leaks immediately .

"People are urged to refrain from washing cars and watering gardens with hose pipes. Consider collecting rainwater for washing cars and watering plants/gardens. Rainwater is excellent for your garden. Collect it in a water butt fed from your gutters but always make sure to securely cover large containers for safety. Talk to your local garden centre and they will be able to advise you about modern safe water collection systems".

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Malin Head Weather Station, said that we are experiencing one of our worst summers in years. However, he added that the actual Weather Station in Malin Head had escaped much of the rainy weather and accordingly low rainfalls were recorded.

Back in May, the council appealed to consumers to conserve water following one of the driest periods on record.

Data from Met Eireann indicated that rainfall for the three months February, March and April was 161.6mm which is well below average levels for the same period. We also experienced the warmest April since records began more than 100 years ago according to a Met spokesman.

Any suspected leaks on watermains or wastage should be reported to the council through the local area office.