Education on the cheap - Paying for water is not the problem

THE row about asking primary schools to pay for water tells us a lot about ourselves.

The most obvious is that we still imagine water a limitless resource and that we do not need to reconsider how we use it; that we can continue to enjoy it without having to pay for it.

Yet, we accept that our schools have to pay for heating oil, electricity, phones and other basic services, so why not water? The argument that schoolchildren get it free at home does not hold. It is only a matter of time before we all have to pay for water, despite heart-beating assurances from local and national politicians.