Top engineer wants water charges before meter system

CORK’S most senior local authority engineer believes water charges should be introduced before a comprehensive, and costly, metering system is installed in the county’s 100,000 households.

County engineer Noel O’Keeffe told the Irish Examiner this was a personal opinion based on the fact it could take up to six years before all private houses pay for the amount of water they actually use.

Minister for the Environment John Gormley wants to impose metering as a measure of conserving water supplies.