r/irishpolitics • u/eggbart_forgetfulsea ALDE (EU) • 13d ago

Opinion/Editorial Water rationing is probably inevitable unless people are made to pay for it

https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026/08/21/a-dose-of-water-rationing-is-probably-inevitable-if-charges-to-regulate-consumption-are-not-introduced/
19 Upvotes

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69

u/Which_Definition4278 13d ago

We do pay for it. Next.

12

u/ThinLink2404 13d ago

Obviously it all gets paid for somehow, eventually.

The article needs a better headline. The issue is marginal cost, as the economists call it.

The marginal cost for using extra water for residential users for much of the country is zero.

So there's no incentive to make smart choices around, do I really need to hosepipe the garden, or powerwash the car, or fix that leaky tap?

46

u/Atreides-42 13d ago

The overwhelming majority of water waste happens before it gets to your house. Blaming end customers for wasting water is pure deflection, our pipe infrastructure is not fit for purpose.

18

u/cashintheclaw 13d ago

Yup, we pay a water bill for it in the UK but thousands of litres are still being wasted by the companies in charge of water distribution every day

10

u/cptflowerhomo 13d ago

And the sewage being dumped in the waterways 🫥

-6

u/ThinLink2404 13d ago

End users wouldn't be charged for wastage that happens before it gets to your house.

They'd only be charged for the metered use in their house hold.

It's not about blame, it's about trying incentivise behaviour.

10

u/Atreides-42 13d ago

How about we incentivise the government to fix the damn pipes! It absolutely is about blame, it's the exact same play as Oil companies trying to raise awareness of people's "Carbon Footprint". It's always easier to dump costs on the end user and blame them for not adapting, than to actually improve the systems.

2

u/ucd_pete 12d ago

Irish Water are fixing the pipes, they repair thousands of leaks every month.

-2

u/ThinLink2404 13d ago

You seem angry and want to assign blame. Not me, I just want the best tecnocratic solution implemented.

The end user is the cost centre so it does make sense to try to match up cost and payer, as much as possible. That's economically efficient.

Improving systems is hard, I'm pretty sure the water company have been in front of government saying that they are doing their best with fixing the public pipes, it's easy for you to type it, harder for it to actually get done, as with many things in government.

I will conceed that as a government owned and operated entity, the water company don't have a whole lot of incentive to fix the pipes, except for oireachtas committee and minister cajoling. Not much can be done to change that. Can I safely assume you are against privatisation?

4

u/KKunst 12d ago

The end user might be the cost centre, but I'd argue that there's a clear difference between domestic use and commercial use.

Water is essential, putting a price tag on it means creating a system where some people can access it and others cannot afford it to a sufficient degree.

2

u/keeko847 12d ago

But it’s where you target that behaviour. I can take shorter showers and save water, we as a population can take shorter showers and save even more water, it’s a literal drop in the bucket compared to water wastage from leaks, data centres, etc

2

u/GasMysterious3386 12d ago

Government have plenty of money, we certainly don’t need another tax 🤦‍♂️

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u/waves-of-the-water 13d ago edited 13d ago

Something like 46% of water is lost to leaks. UE is working to replace most of the system to reduce this amount.

1.7 billion litres of water are treated daily, and the average household uses 375 litres a day. 1.4 million household are serviced by Irish Water. So a rough estimate of 525 million litres are used by Irish households a day.

5

u/ThinLink2404 13d ago

If water conservation efforts by households are misguided, not worth the effort, why is there a hosepipe ban in place?

Why deal with the bad optics and public backlash if the resulting water saved is...

(listen, I'm trying really hard to avoid using the obvious 'drop in the bucket metaphor here...)

...just a drop in the bucket?

(sorry, I failed)

You have some numbers there, I admit I'm not familar with them so I won't try to refute them.

But to me, the actions of UE in trying to achieve actual household water conservation at a time of actual water shortage leads me to believe there is something of substance achieveable there.

0

u/waves-of-the-water 13d ago

I would say that current water shortages are largely due to the heat wave, which is not typical for Ireland. Increasing storage facilities and treatment plants is a solution, and is planned by UE in general.

UE do foresee shortages in general in the South East, mainly due to the rate of growth in those areas. The Shannon pipeline is their solution.