Water Meters - €500m down the drain??

cavedave

Here are some figures

1. the generally agreed amount of free water per person per day is between 40 and 50 liters. "in Flanders everyone has the right to a minimal supply of 15 m³ (41 liter/capita/day) of free water per person per year."

2. In England and Wales our drinking water costs around 2p for 10 litres.

3. Irish houses have a lot of people in them. And there are about 1.3 million houses in Ireland.

4. Irish people use 150 liters each "91% of Irish people have no idea how much water they use, despite using on average, over 150 litres a day".

5. Metering drops usage about 20%.

So one back of the envelope a persons chargableusage of 80 liters (150->120 when metered - 40 free as a right) should be about 16 pence a day (or 20 cent) or say 70 euro a year from each person.

mickc009

what is it and how does it work

mickc009

he recycling options are there any cheap ways of reusing rain water


what about t

cavedave wrote: »

Here are some figures

1. the generally agreed amount of free water per person per day is between 40 and 50 liters. "in Flanders everyone has the right to a minimal supply of 15 m³ (41 liter/capita/day) of free water per person per year."

2. In England and Wales our drinking water costs around 2p for 10 litres.

3. Irish houses have a lot of people in them. And there are about 1.3 million houses in Ireland.

4. Irish people use 150 liters each "91% of Irish people have no idea how much water they use, despite using on average, over 150 litres a day".

5. Metering drops usage about 20%.

So one back of the envelope a persons chargableusage of 80 liters (150->120 when metered - 40 free as a right) should be about 16 pence a day (or 20 cent) or say 70 euro a year from each person.

dan_d

If the money paid in water charges is ringfenced and put directly back into fixing the leaks, then it is worth paying.

If (As I expect it will be), it's simply added to the tax take of the State, and used to pay public service salaries and all the various other things that our taxes are used for - then it's money down the drain.

For me, there's no in-between argument on this.Nothing to do with responsible usage. We are a country with a huge average rainfall every year.There are a number of things we could do, obviously, to improve our usage - such as harvesting rainwater etc - but the only use water taxes should have is to pay for the upgrade of the system, and nothing else.

oscarBravo

dan_d wrote: »

Nothing to do with responsible usage.

You don't think we should use water responsibly, or you don't think water charges should be used to encourage us to use it responsibly?

Essexboy

Look at the practicalities of installing meters which won't be done by the brightest and best.
I know of 3 retail units which have only 2 water meters between them. Why? because the council connected 2 businesses to the same meter! It only came to light when one occupant moved out and the landlord, a local councillor, began receiving the bills.
Expect to hear similar stories once any meter installation programme begins.

Browners90

Are these water meter certs worth the paper their written on.

Unemployed plumber.
51 years of age.
Cant get a a straight answer from any of the training bodies

full info here:

http://irishplumbing.blogspot.com/
would love to hear from anybody.

OurLadyofKnock

The only reason our water is being meter is so when it is privatised the tax payers have paid for the infrastruture and the service providers get it al for free. It is a complete scam if you have not figured this out by now.

Watermetering is totally uncalled for or needed in Ireland. It is just one more thing for the government to wash their hands of and major corporations to bleed us dry.

If you believe this "water shortage" bull**** then you need help. It is just a money making scam for big business and nothing else.

djpbarry

OurLadyofKnock wrote: »

The only reason our water is being meter is so when it is privatised the tax payers have paid for the infrastruture...

Taxpayers paying for the provision of public services. Imagine that.

OurLadyofKnock wrote: »

...and the service providers get it al for free.

So service providers should pay for the infrastructure and the treatment and distribution of water at no charge to the end-users?

OurLadyofKnock wrote: »

Watermetering is totally uncalled for or needed in Ireland.

Perhaps you have not noticed the chronic lack of investment in Ireland’s water distribution network?

OurLadyofKnock wrote: »

If you believe this "water shortage" bull**** then you need help.

You don’t believe that water consumption has increased in Ireland considerably over the last couple of decades? You don’t see the need for the provision of increased capacity to cope with this extra demand?

Harps

Haven't read over the past four pages but will do when I get the time. Basically my opinion is simply that if we're to expect a high quality water service then we should pay for it. As someone with a decent knowledge of the costs involved in water treatment I dont see how people can demand a high quality of service while paying nothing for it. I could go into the details but the simple fact is that drinkable water is expensive to provide yet people expect it for free simply because 'it rains a lot'.

Obviously we're already paying for water through other taxes but if a specific charge was brought in and directly channelled to the treatment of water, as well as the fact people would conserve more water if taxed on it, then it'd become a far more efficient and manageable industry.

The distribution network is obviously chronically under-invested in and unless theres extra money going to it then theres no way to adequately bring the system up to date. Its always going to be a problem unless we suddenly come up with millions from nowhere to sort out the 100 year old leaking pipes.