Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 10 Feb 1998

Vol. 486 No. 6

Written Answers. - Water Conservation.

Joe Higgins

Question:

237 Mr. Higgins (Dublin West) asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the measures, if any, his Department has taken in order to promote the conservation of water; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3436/98]

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Dempsey)

The implementation of water conservation measures is one of my Department's key strategies for ensuring an adequate supply of good quality water to all users. A number of initiatives to give practical effect to this strategy have already been completed and others are under way.

The most comprehensive study ever undertaken in this country into the operation and management of water supply systems was carried out for the Dublin region in 1995 on the initiative of my Department. The main purpose of this study was to assess existing levels of service and water supply problems in the Dublin region and to advise on the cost-effective future development of the water supply networks.

The study was commissioned in the belief that water conservation measures should be central to developing an investment strategy to meet the future water needs of the region. One of the key findings of the study was that over 40 per cent of the water produced in the supply systems in the Dublin region was being lost through leakage and the consultants recommended that a comprehensive programme of works be undertaken to significantly reduce this level of loss. On foot of this recommendation, a five-year programme of works was approved by my Department in April 1996, costing an estimated £32 million, with a view to saving about 22 million gallons of water per day, or about half of the water currently being lost. Work on the project is now under way.

A number of other water conservation projects have also been carried out in recent years in Galway, Waterford, Dundalk, Meath, Tramore and Westport. In September 1996 my Department issued a circular on policy in relation to water conservation to all local authorities. The circular included a comprehensive guidance manual prepared by consultants on ways to reduce leakage and invited local authorities to submit proposals in this area. On foot of the proposals received by my Department, the water and sewerage services investment programme for 1998, which I announced on 2 February, includes 14 water conservation schemes at an estimated cost of £50 million, including the scheme for the Dublin region. Details of the investment programme are available from the Oireachtas Library.

Furthermore, I will be appointing consultants this year to undertake a national water audit to determine, among other things, for each of the larger water supplies which have not yet been the subject of a study, the need for new measures to conserve water. My Department has also encouraged local authorities to promote water conservation in their own areas by measures such as the metering of commercial supplies, public awareness, etc.