Free Water To Be A Thing Of The Past In Ireland
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
It looks like free tap water is going away in Ireland, where consumers are expected to become ratepayers in the near future.
Under a new proposal, the government would "install more than 1 million water meters by the end of 2016 and to begin charging for water," according to the Water Currents blog by National Geographic.
In Ireland, unlike most countries, tap water is currently delivered to homes for free.
"Water charges for private use were abolished in 1997, and charges are now only levied on water supplied to commercial premises used for business, trade, or manufacture," according to the development group Progressio Ireland.
But that is all about to change. "For consumers accustomed to free water, the rubber will hit the road when billing begins, scheduled for the first quarter of 2015," National Geographic said.
Water providers are already rolling out technology to make that possible.
"The first meter went in the ground about three months ago, on August 12, in Kildare," the report said. Dublin got its first meter on October 13. All together, nearly 30,000 meters have been put in place," the report said.
The utility Irish Water was established this year to take over the responsibilities of local water authorities. It is a semi-state company created under the Water Services Act 2013.
Conservation is part of the justification for the new charges.
"Irish Water has predicted water consumption levels will fall by around 10 percent following the introduction of charges. The start of a €450m program to install water meters to over one million residences is due to get under way later this year, but is unlikely to be completed before 2016," the Irish Examiner reported.
Even though Ireland is one of Europe's wettest countries, the capital of Dublin has been experiencing water shortages, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"Much of Dublin's water infrastructure was built 150 years ago and the city has been straining for years to supply the 540 million liters of water its households and businesses consume daily," according to the Journal.
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