From bad to burst: water, water, everywhere
After three weeks of Arctic weather, a slow thaw set in last week revealing thousands of leaks in homes, businesses and local authority water mains. Councils responded to falling levels of treated water by reducing pressure to allow for repairs and to discourage homeowners from running taps at night. The Dublin suburbs of Rathgar, Terenure, Finglas, Killester, Poppintree and Cabra suffered significant shortages. Batchelors plant in Tallaght put 40 staff on notice as shortages threatened production. Finian McGrath, a Dublin TD, claimed 750 jobs at Cadbury in Coolock were threatened. Also hit were south Kilkenny, New Ross in Co Wexford, Shannon and Ennis in Co Clare and the Glen, Fair Hill, Blackpool, Gurranabraher, Shandon Street and Mayfield in Cork.
Sinking feeling: nor any drop to drink
John Gormley, the environment minister, said the dramatic drop in reservoir levels was caused by leaky pipes and householders' practice of leaving taps dripping to stop attic pipes freezing. Some counties' pipes are noticeably leakier than others'. Roscommon loses more than 58% of its treated water somewhere between the treatment plant and the tap, while Kilkenny has a 56% rate of what councils call "unaccounted for" water. By contrast, Limerick county council loses less than 17% of its supply while South Dublin's seepage rate is just below 20% and Fingal's 21.6%. In fact the average leakage loss in Dublin has come down from 42% to 28% since the drought of 1996 spurred officials into action.
Splashing the cash: treatment and repairs are expensive for councils
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It costs 1 billion a year to make Ireland's tap water fit for human consumption. But after it leaves the treatment plant, as much as a third seeps out of pipes and water mains, some of which are several decades old. The greater Dublin area has 3,000km of water mains and only replaced 60km in the past three years. Most water is saved by repairing leaks; pipes are replaced only where it is uneconomic to repair them. Detailed surveys and "diagnosis" of the problem determine which solution works in which area. The four local authorities in the capital spent 40m replacing and repairing pipes last year - roughly half their water budget. But only 20% of the national water budget of 508m was spent on replacement and repair, the Department of Environment said.
In the pipeline: water wasters face fines
Conservation will be a central element of a national water service programme to be launched by Gormley later this month. Counties with the highest leakage rate will be "encouraged" to adopt the Dublin strategy of accelerated repair and replacement. The impending installation of water meters in every home, ahead of water charges, will also discourage householders from waste. Chambers Ireland wants a water-metering programme prioritised for delivery "within one year", arguing that the cost of 2 billion would provide a much-needed stimulus to the depressed construction sector. Less optimistic assessments suggest it could take two years to introduce the meters.