UN water report - Charges might end waste

YESTERDAY’S UN report on the world’s escalating water crisis didn’t tell us anything we didn’t know already but the scale of the threat revealed has become truly staggering. Incessant population growth, climate change, cavalier irrigation and waste are placing the world’s water supplies at threat.

Water shortages, exacerbated by climate change, will pose huge security challenges. The struggle for water could threaten fragile states and drive regional rivalry.

Still, despite an endless series of warnings like this, we have a water supply system that wastes vast quantities of expensive processed water through leakage. A considerable proportion of Dublin’s domestic water supply depends on systems of pipes that are over a century old.

We provide unlimited “free” water to domestic users. We charge businesses something far less than cost and we all use it as if there was an infinite supply.

The time has come for a realistic system of charges to be imposed to encourage us to mend our habits. Metered domestic water for everyone would help local authorities fund the provision of what has become a hugely expensive service, thereby moving towards balancing the books.

More importantly, it might encourage us to realise what a precious life-giving resource water is.