48% WATER LOST VIA LEAKS
OVER 1,500 householders across Cork have benefited from Irish Water’s ‘first fix’ leak repair scheme.
However, the national metering programme has estimated water leakage in County Cork to be 48% while it was 52% in Cork city.
Lost water is estimated at 47% nationally, based on figures from the national metering programme.
Figures just released to the end of March this year have shown that 1,560 householders in Cork city and county benefited from Irish Water’s First Fix Free scheme as the utility responsible for the country’s water and waste water management urges more householders to avail of the free service.
Irish Water’s First Fix Free scheme launched in early 2015 across all metering regions in Cork and throughout the country. To the end of March, 75,974 properties were identified with customer side leaks, 9,434 of which have been found in Cork.
In 2014 it was estimated that water leakage levels could be as high as 49%. This figure was based on limited data, estimated customer use and varying methods of calculating leakage around the country. As a single utility, Irish Water is able to standardise methods of calculation of leaks and properly understand how much water households use through our domestic meter dataset of approximately 850,000 connections.
In May 2014 the Government announced funding of €51m for a scheme to address water leakage on pipework within a customer’s property boundary under a ‘First Fix’ scheme.
Under the scheme Irish Water notifies customers where suspected leakage is occurring within the boundary of the property outside the home and offer a free leak investigation and repair if appropriate. The vast majority of leaks are underground so go unnoticed and undetected.
To avail of the scheme, customers must have a confirmed leak on their external supply pipe; have water meter installed on their property (so the leak can be verified); and have a working inside stop valve.
Irish Water’s Water Conservation Strategy Specialist Kate Gannon, welcomed the number of householders in Cork who are availing of First Fix Free while encouraging greater uptake of the scheme.
He said there were 9,434 households in Cork who have received a letter indicating a potential leak on their property and these households in Cork who were contacted by Irish Water regarding a leak on their property.
“We would ask those property owners to contact Irish Water if they haven’t done so already, to request a free leak investigation. We will then issue them with a First Fix Repair Scheme offer detailing the terms and conditions of the repair,” he said.
Almost 30,000 customers have already contacted Irish Water to avail of a free leak investigation including 3,811 in Cork.