We held an open discussion of water charges at our Monthly meeting in November.
The consensus was that we agreed with the metering of water so that it could be conserved, but did not agree with flat rate water charges.
As a group we were disappointed that metering wasn’t at a more advanced stage, before charges started. It was noted as a failure of building regulations not to anticipate that metering would be needed.
The meeting also noted that the Apartment Owners Network have provided information to the Department of the Environment suggesting that apartments be individually metered for water. Some apartment complexes are already set up for this.
The meeting discussed problems with the water supply, including the issue of quality of water, particularly in apartments, but also problems such as a lack of water pressure.
It was suggested that the government predetermined that water charges would be expensive. irish water may fall foul of an EU regulation (EU water framework directive) – there is also an EU statistical rule that states if an organisation is getting a majority of money from state then the debt of that organisation is added to the national debt – would be a more reasonable pricing scheme if left in councils.
We thought that those People who use more than the average amount are those that should be made pay for water. We would support incentives to encourage people to harvest rain water. Future building regulations need to include systems to use grey water and water butts for the gardens.
