One year on from the worst drought in 70 years that saw Ireland’s first Water Conservation Orders (hosepipe bans), research conducted by B&A for Irish Water has revealed that 52% of the public acknowledge that they waste water and 25% of people believe that they don’t need to conserve water because of the level of rainfall in Ireland.
Irish Water is launching a water conservation campaign to encourage the public to use only what they need because of the economic and environmental cost of providing safe clean drinking water and the need to safeguard the supply for the future.
The water treatment process
Each day in Ireland, 1.7 billion litres of water is collected, treated and pumped around a vast network of pipes to homes, businesses, hospitals and farms.
The treatment process is a lengthy and complex one with up to seven stages that can take up to three days to make raw water suitable to drink.
As our population grows,we need to ensure that we are abstracting enough water for homes and businesses while still protecting the environment. Irish Water helping to conserve water by fixing leaks but conservation by homes and businesses is key.
Small measures in conserving water can have a big impact
Small measures in conserving water can have a big impact. Six litres of water a minute can be saved by turning off the tap when brushing your teeth; showering uses half the amount of water of a bath; and keeping a jug of water in the fridge instead of running the cold tap can save up to 10 litres of water.
Speaking as the Water Conservation campaign was launched, Head of Asset Management Seán Laffey, said “In 2018 bad storms followed by the prolonged drought last year really showed people that safe, clean, treated water is not in unlimited supply and that we all have to play a part in conserving it. It was really encouraging last summer to see on social media and elsewhere, the conservation measures that people were taking in their homes and businesses. However, when the urgency of a drought passes, it is easy to lose focus on how precious water is.This is despite the fact that the financial and environmental impact of treating and providing drinking water does not decrease as rainfall increases.”
“There are loads of helpful conservation tips for homes, business and farms on our conservation section and on social media @Irish Water. We are encouraging everyone to play their part and use only what they need.”
Leakage is a massive problem
Leakage is a massive problem, but we have a plan. It will take time and we are making progress to reduce the current national leakage rate of 43%. Working with our local authority partners, Irish Water is fixing over 1,500 leaks every month and we are on track save 166 million litres of water daily by 2021.
