Irish Water has launched a water conservation campaign to encourage the public to use only what they need because of the economic and environmental cost of providing safe clean drinking water and the need to safeguard the supply for the future.

One year on from the worst drought in 70 years that saw the country’s first Water Conservation Orders (hosepipe bans), research conducted by B&A for Irish Water has revealed that 52% of the public acknowledge that they waste water and 25% of people believe that they don’t need to conserve water because of the level of rainfall in Ireland.

Describing leakage as “a massive problem”, the utility said it was making progress to reduce the current national leakage rate of 43%. Working with local authority partners, the water company is fixing over 1,500 leaks every month and is on track save 166 million litres of water daily by 2021. However, while Irish Water itself is helping to conserve water by fixing leaks, conservation by homes and businesses is key.

Speaking as the Water Conservation campaign was launched, Head of Asset Management Seán Laffey, said:

“In 2018 bad storms followed by the prolonged drought last year really showed people that safe, clean, treated water is not in unlimited supply and that we all have to play a part in conserving it. It was really encouraging last summer to see on social media and elsewhere, the conservation measures that people were taking in their homes and businesses. However, when the urgency of a drought passes, it is easy to lose focus on how precious water is.This is despite the fact that the financial and environmental impact of treating and providing drinking water does not decrease as rainfall increases.”

“There are loads of helpful conservation tips for homes, business and farms on our conservation section and on social media @Irish Water. We are encouraging everyone to play their part and use only what they need.”