HOUSEHOLDERS, BUSINESSES and farmers will face fines of up to €5,000 if they break new water conservation regulations signed into law by Minister for the Environment John Gormley yesterday.
The new laws are designed to stop wastage or excessive consumption of water and to ensure so called hose-pipe bans are adhered to in times of drought and water shortages.
The fines will not only apply to householders who water lawns and wash cars during long dry spells, but to golf clubs, commercial car washes or farmers who irrigate crops when conservation orders have been applied by their local authority. For example, a school could face fines if it did not turn off automatic flushing mechanisms for toilets during summer.
An individual caught watering their garden when a conservation order is in force will immediately be fined €125. Failure to pay within 21 days will result in a prosecution and possible fines of up to €5,000.
Similar fines will apply to recreational parks or sports grounds such as golf clubs which water their courses, and to farmers irrigating or spraying crops.
An Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) spokesman said a lack of water was generally not a problem for Irish farmers, but he asked that those who did require extra water were not unduly penalised.
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