It’s not just leaks – utility is swamped with priorities

WHAT should Irish Water’s priority be, fixing leaks or developing a new supply for Dublin and the midlands to avoid cut-offs into the future?

Or perhaps it should focus on upgrading plants at risk of failure or contamination with E.coli and other dangerous bugs? Maybe tackling raw sewage discharges should be number one on the to-do list?

But what about replacing lead and asbestos pipes, which are also an issue? Or developing new drinking water sources for areas reliant on vulnerable supplies? Not to mention, of course, the need to assess the sewer and mains system to determine its condition and prevent future problems. And developing IT systems allowing it to see what’s happening on the ground in real time. And reducing operating costs.

Irish Water doesn’t have one priority, it has many, and all are a legacy of decades of under-investment.

Two things we do know. Irish Water must provide safe and secure drinking water. It must also prevent pollution from wastewater. On these two things, everything else hinges. A lot of vested interests have a stake in this – the utility, the public, business and Government.

But for most people, as long as water flows from the tap and the contents of the toilet disappear after flushing, everything is fine.

But we know that under the hood, the system is creaking, overloaded, leaking and in need of major investment. But we haven’t even started to talk about the problems. Part of that involves a public education campaign and debate about where the utility’s priorities should lie.

People talk about replacing the thousands of kilometres of leaking pipes before sourcing a new supply from the Shannon, but is this feasible? Would we all countenance roads being dug up for extended periods of time to allow this to happen?

And is there, as some contend, an aquifer in Dublin capable of providing additional supply to sustain a growing urban population? Irish Water says no, but perhaps this needs to be explained.

And what about consumption? Average household demand from the public system is lower than EU averages, but it could be lower. The effect of the hosepipe ban has seen demand fall. Those who operate group water schemes, which serve around 400,000 people, suggest consumption rates are also lower when people pay.

That’s not to say we have to revisit the issue of domestic charging – that ship has long sailed – but it does suggest there is an education campaign needed to help the public and business use less, as has been demonstrated in the group water scheme sector.

We need to be more proactive. Why isn’t rainwater harvesting a requirement on all newbuilds? Should homes be fitted with rainwater butts as a matter of course, to water the garden and wash the car? Why do we flush the toilet with drinking-quality water? And crucially, on what projects should scarce public money be spent?

The Government has allocated €8.5bn over the next decade to fund improvement works, but this is just the beginning of a long road to make the system not even best-in-class, but merely adequate. There’s a lot of catching up to do. That speaks to the need for everyone to debate and analyse the issues, and find the best solutions.