Sir, – May I suggest that the issue of water meters could be better solved by psychologists or sociologists rather than by plumbers and engineers. Bulk water meters already exist at strategic locations throughout all networks, and additional ones are easily and relatively inexpensive to install, where required.
If the country were divided up into local areas, initially broadly on a county basis and subdivided down to a broadly parish (or even GAA club basis), bulk meters could be used to set a competition for counties/communities or even streets, to use less water than their neighbours. Real time figures could even be displayed on a phone app.
Potable water and wastewater treatment is an engineering issue but also a social one (this is the reason for the term “civil” in the name civil engineer).
TY students could be tasked to enumerate the actual number of residents within each bulk metered area if our noble bureaucrats have not got this information.
Commercial use is already metered and could be deducted to allow genuine per head usage and promote competition. Flat charges could then be community based, with the communities with the least per head usage attracting lower flat charges.
Thus water conservation would become a self-policing issue within a community.
The major social changes over the past 30 years, such as drink driving and the smoking ban have been achieved by a significant use of educating youth and changing mindsets. School children went home and chastised adults for smoking or bringing the car to the pub.
Imagine the resource if school children were motivated to chastise adults about leaking taps or wasting water. Imagine the competition among children to get their local per head water usage lower than their neighbouring communities. This has already been initiated in most primary schools.
Authorities may not like this idea because eventually local communities will be able to identify the general location of “unaccounted water” (leaks) and will demand that local authorities repair these. The likely €1 billion plus cost of installing domestic water meters, to a possible 60-70 per cent of homes, would be far better used repairing leaks or improving wastewater treatment. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The divergent thinking on water charges is concisely illustrated by Harry McGee (Weekend Review, April 21st). The value of a safe, guaranteed supply of water is treasured by rural dwellers on group water schemes. McGee points out that water charges have been accepted with hardly a murmur of complaint by a generation of rural households that makes up 8 per cent of the population. He also indicated that those who run group schemes consider the benefits of metering a huge incentive in the conservation of water.
In February of last year, water usage in our group water scheme (which is bulk metered) doubled over the previous month. Members were notified that excess water usage must be paid for and instead of the €100 charge members would face a charge of €400 by year end if consumption were to continue at this higher rate. Members actively sourced leaks caused by frost damage and within a short time consumption had returned to normal. This is clear evidence of the benefit of metering in preventing waste and of active management of water usage. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – The findings in the Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll (Home News, April 21st) that the introduction of the household tax is opposed by 63 per cent of people shows that even a large proportion of those who paid the tax are opposed to it.
No matter whose figures are believed, something in the region of a million households refused to register for the household tax – despite the Government’s best efforts. If such a large number of people are willing to put themselves in conflict with the Government over a €100 charge, it can surely be expected that many of those who are opposed but reluctantly paid will join the boycott campaign when efforts are made to impose the property and water taxes, which will amount to over €1,000 per year.
It seems that the government is hell-bent on provoking a confrontation with the people on this issue. But communities all over the country, having built strong local campaigns to oppose the household tax, now have a much greater sense of their own strength. People know they no longer have to accept the Government’s austerity agenda. The Government is going to find, I believe, that the property and water taxes are unenforceable and uncollectable. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – This government seems to have, as its primary modus operandi, a religious adherence to Zymurgy’s first law of evolving system dynamics, namely once you open a can of worms, the only way to recan them is to use a larger can.
In some cases it has done this to distract attention from the various open cans still lying around, in others, the can is opened to distract attention from the much larger one beside it. So with the proposed water charges, the distraction is the small can that is the metering cost. The large can lurking in the shadows is that the new Water Authority has been tasked with replacing our antiquated supply system. This will cost every household many thousands of euros, but the Government is hoping the media, and the public, don’t notice until it’s too late, focused as they are on the far smaller metering charge.
Smoke and mirrors was one description of the technique, but that was the speciality of a previous taoiseach. The English sometimes gave names to periods of government, for example the Long Parliament, and the Rump Parliament. Let the 31st Dáil be known as the Can of Worms Dáil. – Yours, etc,