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Irish Times
5 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Ireland is like the paradox of Schrödinger's cat: a wet country that has too little water
Debates about whether we need 50,000 new houses a year, as the Government says, or 93,000, as some analysts say, are arguably pointless: neither total is possible as there simply isn't the water there to supply them, or to process their waste. Just 30,000 to 35,000 new houses can be supplied each year for the foreseeable future according to Uisce Éireann . Quite the gap. In 2013, Irish Water – as it was called – inherited a severely neglected water infrastructure system. The average age of a water pipe is about 75 years – double the European average – and leaky as a Government backbencher. At about 37 per cent, our water leakage levels are among the highest in western Europe due to these ageing underground pipes and a legacy of fragmented ownership of the network with historically variable levels of maintenance. Tralee alone loses 6.5 million litres a day in leaks, enough water for a town twice its size. Ireland also uses a lot of water compared to the rest of Europe, 1.7 billion litres daily, with domestic usage accounting for two-thirds of this and non-domestic consumers the balance. Uisce Éireann is expecting non-domestic demand in the Greater Dublin Area (GDA) to increase by 67 per cent by 2040. READ MORE As in housing, geography matters. While the west and south of the country has more rainfall and better water supplies, it is in the east of the country that demand is intensifying, exactly where rainfall is lower and river systems are smaller. About 80 per cent of our drinking water comes from rivers and lakes with the remainder from groundwater, mostly in rural areas. The GDA, with 40 per cent of the country's population, relies heavily on Vartry reservoir and the Liffey, the latter of which supplies 85 per cent of Dublin city's water. Such a narrow base of water supply means systemic vulnerability in case of drought or peak demand. At the same time, population growth means that domestic water demand across the country will increase by 26 per cent to 2044. [ Fixing 'known' water system issues will take until 2050 and cost up to €60bn, says Uisce Éireann ] In the east, the demand for drinking water will increase by 45 per cent to 800 million litres a day in the GDA by 2040, vastly exceeding current capacity. Two-thirds of towns and villages do not have the 'infrastructural headroom' to support new development without upgrades, which is essential for rural revitalisation. We also need to deal with wastewater. More than half of our wastewater treatment plants are not always compliant with their licences, and Ireland has been in continuous breach of various parts of the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive for more than 30 years. In rural areas, more than half the septic tanks inspected last year failed. Just 1,390 of nearly 500,000 were tested, meaning significant risks for surface and groundwater quality. Various studies have noted evidence of faecal contamination in rural wells. There are solutions, the quickest of which is to change usage behaviour and the quickest way to do that is to charge for water. That didn't go down well the last time it was tried. Tánaiste Simon Harris recently promised the Government will not introduce water charges, although he also promised we'd complete 40,000 houses last year. The actual number of new homes completed was 30,330. There is a plan to charge for 'excess' water and wastewater usage (above 213,000 litres per average household annually), but there's no timeline or legislation yet for its introduction. Behavioural interventions like awareness campaigns are also useful: more nudge, less sludge. Better planning decisions about where new housing is allowed to integrate water supply and output also have a role. Rainwater and downpipe harvesting should be part of every new house. Fixing leaks and upgrading existing infrastructure are, however, key. Uisce Éireann spends €250 million a year reducing leaks from 46 per cent in 2018 and is aiming for 25 per cent by 2030. The proposed 170km Shannon pipeline to serve the east and midlands will take 350 million litres a day from the Parteen Basin near Birdhill, Co Tipperary. Without this pipeline, there will be no new housing or commercial water connections in the GDA, which will have significant implications for the national economy, the delivery of housing, social equality and sustainable patterns of development. [ Renters forking out €2,000 per month are paying the price for water charges debacle ] This will cost money, which goes to the heart of the issue: successive governments, all of which contained parties of the current Government, have repeatedly underfunded water infrastructure, exactly as they have housing, in both instances expecting the private sector to do the heavy lifting for them. Whereas expensive and volatile private sector reliance has grown exponentially in housing, no private sector involvement in water infrastructure has happened. Maybe no harm. Across the Irish Sea, privatisation of water in England has led to increased shareholder profits and directors' remuneration, and worse leakage and poorer quality water. In housing, ministers castigate local authorities for not doing enough at the same time as cutting funding. In water, there are announcements of increased funding, but as in housing, this is not always new funding, but recycled old funding. Indeed, Uisce Éireann's chairman recently accused the Government of allowing misleading messages of additional funding to permeate ' within Government circles, industry and the general public ', even though there was no additional funding (while politicians simultaneously blame Uisce Éireann for shortages). Pretend money – particularly annually allocated pretend money – won't solve our water supply issue. A wealthy but still penny-wise pound-foolish Government hasn't made the link between functioning infrastructure and housing output, and indeed climate. As a result, Ireland is now the geographical manifestation of Schrödinger's cat: a wet country that is at the same time lacking in water for new housing; a country with numerous energy-hungry data centres, but also a looming potential shortage of electricity for new houses; and more than 15,500 homeless in a country with over 160,000 vacant homes. You'd have to wonder whether anyone is in charge. Dr Lorcan Sirr is senior lecturer in housing at the Technological University Dublin
Irish Independent
26-05-2025
- Climate
- Irish Independent
Uisce Éireann crews working to repair burst water mains in Wexford
The burst is affecting water supply to Uisce Éireann customers in Gorey and the surrounding areas and crews are on site and are working to repair the burst. It is estimated that repairs will be complete and supply will return to normal levels from approximately 2p.m. this afternoon. Uisce Éireann's Padraig Lyng assured affected customers that supply will be restored as quickly as possible. 'We acknowledge the inconvenience caused to customers by unplanned outages and we want to thank affected homes and businesses for their understanding while our crews work to repair the burst and restore normal supply,' said Padraig. Typically, it takes two to three hours following repairs for normal supply to restore to all customers affected by an unplanned outage. However, it may take longer for normal supply to be restored to customers at the end of the network or on higher ground as the system recharges. Vulnerable customers who have registered with Uisce Éireann receive direct communications for planned and unplanned outages lasting more than four hours. To register as a vulnerable customer or as an alternative contact, visit their Vulnerable Customers page. For further updates, go to Uisce Éireann's website, X channels @IWCare and @IrishWater, on Facebook and LinkedIn or their customer care helpline which is open 24/7 on 1800 278 278. Uisce Éireann has a free text service, providing real-time updates for local issues. Customers can sign up with their Eircode and mobile number on their text updates page.
Irish Independent
25-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Council leisure centre's swimming pool project takes on water – as costs of eight-year project set to rise to €20m
The pool facility, in Lucan in west Dublin, has been dogged by delays — and the final price of the project is now expected to come in at around €20m. When it was originally costed in 2017, South Dublin County Council expected the final bill to be around €12.985m. A project schedule from the time said that once the contract was awarded, it should only take 14 months to construct. Construction got under way in May 2019, but the Covid pandemic, severe weather and a variety of other issues have seen the project go way beyond schedule, with completion dates pushed back at least a dozen times. A series of updates to queries from councillors, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show how the opening day for the swimming pool and leisure centre kept shifting. In late 2020, a local representative was told the handover date had been meant to be February 2021, but that this had been moved back to June 2021. I'm satisfied the council has done everything in their power to expedite the project An update said: 'The project has been significantly delayed due firstly to poor weather conditions in the early part of 2020 and then the enforced closure of the site for a number of weeks during the Covid national lockdown.' In late 2021, another councillor was given an update, saying the completion date was now likely to be in April or May of 2022. That date then got pushed to August 2022, though even that proved hopelessly optimistic. Local Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin asked in January 2023 when the pool was likely to be open and was told that June 2023 was now the target, and that this was 'very disappointing' to the council. A letter to him said: 'As you will be aware, the project has been impacted significantly by various construction sector challenges.' By last year, the project still wasn't complete — and in August 2024 councillors were told that the local authority was still working with the contractor to 'agree a revised programme'. ADVERTISEMENT In February of this year, Mr Ó Broin again sought an update and was told more resources were being provided to 'expedite project completion'. A letter to him said: 'The council understands both the importance of this project to the local community and the frustration that the delays have caused.' An update to councillors in January said: 'Completion of the project continues to be challenging, primarily; as noted previously, due to contractor resources and sub-contractor availability. 'We are continuing to intensively manage the project and main contractor to achieve the earliest possible completion dates.' South Dublin County Council had originally refused to provide details of how much they had so far spent on the project. However, following an appeal under FoI laws, they disclosed that costs so far were €17.87m, which included €15.7m in payments to the main contractor. A further €702,000 was paid to an architectural firm while fees of €33,919 were paid to Irish Water and just over €20,000 to ESB Networks. That is unlikely to be the final bill, however, and local representatives have been warned that an overall cost of around €20m can be expected. Parts of the facility are in use, but the main swimming pool has yet to be opened to the public. 'The ongoing delays have been enormously frustrating, but I'm satisfied that the council has done everything in their power to expedite the project,' said Mr Ó Broin. 'What I would say is the way in which procurement rules are imposed on local bodies is far too rigid. It means that when something goes wrong, it's very difficult to resolve those issues in a timely manner. 'The council has done a large number of capital projects, including housing and community facilities, and none of those have had the kind of delays that this centre has.'
RTÉ News
21-05-2025
- Politics
- RTÉ News
TD requests meeting with Martin, Uisce Éireann over septic tank concerns
Independent Ireland TD Richard O'Donoghue has called on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to meet with him and Uisce Éireann to address septic tank concerns in rural Ireland, saying the utility is not listening to "common sense" on the issue. Speaking during Leaders' Questions, Mr O'Donoghue said Environmental Protection Agency figures published this week show that of 1,390 septic tanks inspected by local authorities 82% were "inadequate". Mr O'Donoghue said the issue is impacting housing development, and is in his view partially related to the need for an "upgrade of treatment systems" as currently both water and sewage are "going straight into rivers" in some locations. Criticising the situation, the Opposition TD said he believes Uisce Éireann is "not dealing with anyone, they're not listening to common sense" on the issue. "Separate the water from the sewage, that's all I'm asking," Mr O'Donoghue said, before calling on Taoiseach Micheál Martin to meet him and Uisce Éireann to discuss the situation. Responding to the request, the Taoiseach said "it is important we improve" on the septic tank issue, but defended the utility by saying "there are a lot of engineers in Uisce Éireann and a lot of them would argue that they know what they're doing". Mr Martin said "I will relay what you are saying to Irish Water [Uisce Éireann]", before saying "I know the most favourite word among Independents is common sense" and that no party or grouping has "a monopoly" on it.
Irish Daily Mirror
16-05-2025
- Climate
- Irish Daily Mirror
Phenomenon behind fine weather could last "2-3 months" as scorching summer ahead
Bosses at Met Éireann have promised the record-breaking sunshine will 'stick around for at least another week' and could stay all summer long. With 25C again forecast for tomorrow, they revealed that the warm temperatures also look set to stay for the rest of the summer and that June, July, August will all have 'above average temperatures'. New figures released today by Met Éireann showed that a third of its weather stations have this month already recorded drought conditions and a quarter are seeing their warmest spring on record. More than half of all the stations have had their highest ever mean maximum temperatures for spring and the majority of all stations have had more sunshine in the first two weeks of May this year than all of May 2024. Temperatures on Saturday and Sunday are forecast to reach 25C, Monday is due to be 23C, and the following days' temperatures are set for the 'mid-teens to low 20s', according to the national weather service. Met Éireann climatologist Paul Moore today explained that the recent weather is all because of the Omega Block weather pattern. The Omega Block emerges when the North Atlantic jet stream is weak and this happens when a weather phenomenon called the Stratospheric Polar Vortex breaks down early after a cold winter. It normally breaks down in mid-April, but this year it happened a week before St Patrick's Day. Met Eireann's Moore said: 'The influence of the breakdown of the Stratospheric Polar Vortex on the troposphere can last for two to three months.' He added that it causes 'high pressure [systems] to re-establish over and over again' and for this summer it means 'June, July, and August, has a strong signal for higher than average temperatures for Ireland during the summer months'. Paul said: 'The current spell of fine weather is due to a blocking area of high pressure over and just to the north of Ireland. This particular type of blocking pattern is called an Omega Block because the jet stream makes a pattern that resembles the Greek letter omega.' He added: 'It can be a stable blocking pattern which lasts for an extended period of time and is quite common on the eastern edges of the North Atlantic and North Pacific.' As a result of the recent hot spell, Irish Water is warning households to conserve water to prevent more hosepipe bans. A spokesperson told the Irish Mirror: 'Uisce Eireann is appealing to everyone to be mindful of their use of water as the warm dry spell looks set to continue through the weekend and into next week. This appeal comes as 22 supplies around the country are officially in drought status.' Hosepipe bans are threatened with three counties – Donegal, Meath, and Westmeath – already under Water Conservation Orders until June 16 and restrictions are in place on Galway's Inis Oirr island.
