Major cities may face water shortages, warn experts

Four major towns and cities could be hit by water shortages in five years, senior government advisors warned today.

With almost half of clean supplies disappearing because of leaks, Dublin, Athlone, Galway and Letterkenny face problems with supply and potential droughts by 2013.

And on top of the threatened shortages, along with Mallow and Wexford, these areas will not be able to deal with the increasing amounts of waste water and sewerage.

Forfas, the state’s trade, science and technology experts, investment was needed in the gateways and hub towns of Ireland.

“We need to adopt a national approach to the delivery of water and waste water services,” chief executive Martin Cronin said.

“Currently 34 local authorities are involved in the provision of these services.”

Forfas proposed a river basin district model where an authority will take control of sourcing, treating and supplying water from a system rather than stopping at county boundaries.

“Additionally, reducing the levels of water leakage occurring and encouraging greater water conservation among businesses and domestic users has the potential to reduce the level of capital investment required,” Mr Cronin said.

Forfas revealed 43% of drinking water treated and supplied in gateway and hub towns is lost before it reaches the final consumer.

Described as unaccounted for water, Tuam has the worst record at 76% and Dublin and Sligo the lowest at 20%.

It found a lack of transparency in water and waste water charges paid by businesses to councils. Costs vary from €1.50 per metre cubed in Galway County to the most expensive of €2.71 in Wexford.

Average costs in the cities compare favourably with the rest of Europe while quality is also generally high, particularly in the main urban areas, the report found.

However, Forfas said: “The outbreak of cryptosporidium in Galway City in March 2007 has served to highlight the importance of having adequate infrastructure in place to prevent contamination.”

Chambers Ireland reacted to the report by calling for water charges for all, not just businesses.

“We can no longer ignore the need to conserve water as a natural resource,” Sean Murphy director of policy said.

“The introduction of pay-by-weight refuse charges led to dramatic reductions of waste quantity – by 30% in one local authority alone. The same principle should now be extended to water usage.”

Forfas issued several recommendations, a number which pointed to possible water rates being introduced for all homes in the future.

The experts asked for a full costing of providing water services for domestic users to ensure the enough funding is provided by central government.

Following that Forfas said the issue of charges should be reviewed.

The body also recommended a customer charter to be developed and monitored by the Department of Environment to ensure a consistent approach across local authorities.