THE CURRENT water crisis, following so swiftly on the snow emergency, has highlighted once again the wilful wastage of a precious public resource. With reservoirs running low on supplies of treated water, many local authorities have been forced to reduce water pressure and even implement service cuts. The pictures of people queueing up to fill buckets from standpipes or waiting for the next water tanker to arrive are more redolent of impoverished countries in Africa than a supposedly well-developed EU member state that has invested billions of euro in upgrading its water supply infrastructure over the past two decades.
Chambers Ireland, which represents the rate-paying business community, noted yesterday that water demand in Dublin spiked at 82,733 cubic metres on Sunday last, compared to the usual 72,000 cubic metres. “This jump in demand came as result of some burst water pipes but, more significantly, taps being left to run to prevent pipes freezing and people stocking up on water following viral SMS campaigns claiming that water supplies were being cut off,” said its deputy chief executive, Seán Murphy. “This simply would not happen if people were paying for these scarce resources.”
Indeed it would not. If water was metered and paid for, householders with FBD insurance policies might also have thought twice about the firm’s advice that kitchen taps should be left trickling during the cold snap “as moving water will not freeze”. Yet it is clear from what Taoiseach Brian Cowen told the Dáil last October that the Government’s commitment to introduce water charges - as specified in the Fianna Fáil-Green Party revised programme - is not being treated with any sense of urgency. “Detailed work must now be done to work up and design a scheme that would provide for the attainment of this objective over time,” Mr Cowen said.
Under the National Development Plan - drawn up, admittedly, in headier days - a total of €4.75 billion was allocated for water infrastructure. Chambers Ireland now wants to see a water metering programme prioritised for delivery “within one year”, arguing that its estimated cost of €2 billion would provide a much-needed stimulus to the depressed construction sector - as well as making domestic users conscious of how they use this precious resource. A similar programme to replace leaking mains which are responsible for the loss of a staggering 50 per cent or more of expensively treated water in some areas would also be a prudent investment for the future. We simply cannot go on wasting water.