Can you imagine not having to pay for your Gas or Oil? Why should water be any different?

I only hope that the government set out a strategic road map for this project and ensure it is carried out correctly. Introducing a flat rate charge will not help water conservation or help identify the major leaks in the domestic connections, meters and data is the only way these can be identified and repaired.

Looking at other European Countries where water charges are in place its clear to see water charges help substantially reduce household water use. People would also be proactive in conservation methods, such as using Rain Water Butts for Harvesting Water and installing water saving products such as; water displacement devices, aerators, water saving shower heads, etc…

Water is precious so we need to look after it. Reduce and Recycle.

Chief executive Gabriel D’Arcy said Bord na Mona, which was earmarked for sale by Colm McCarthy’s semi-state review, should be reinvented to become Ireland’s main water utilities company.

As part of its plans to take on the Irish water business, the company plans to build the first new reservoir in 60 years at a cutaway bog at Garryhinch in Co Offaly. The €540m project would create 1,000 jobs, he said.

Under EU/IMF bailout conditions, the Government will appoint a company to run the nation’s water supply.

The Department of the Environment has commissioned accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers and law firm McCann FitzGerald to assess and recommend who should take the highly lucrative water business. Their report is due in September.

“The Government has a number of options but we are confident in our plans,” Mr D’Arcy said.

“To run the Irish Water company the Government could create a new body, and deal with all the requirements of creating a new semi-state, or it can use someone like us who are ready and willing to take up the challenge.”

Mr D’Arcy was speaking after Bord na Mona unveiled annual results which showed profits increased by almost a quarter last year, despite what the company called “one of the most challenging years in recent history”.

The company, which is moving into waste management, renewables and water, increased its earnings after tax by 23pc to €12.9m on the back of revenue which was essentially flat at €382.1m. The dividend to the state fell €1.8m to €3.4m.

D’Arcy added that with the advent of new technologies in wind energy, wind farms in the midlands, which may not have been viable three or four years ago, were now realistic.

“People will know in advance, without further confusion or speculation, what will be involved,” he said.

Mr Kenny said it might happen at next week’s Cabinet meeting or afterwards.

The Taoiseach was replying to Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party, who called for clarity on the charges to be introduced.

“Will the household utility charge be in addition to a property tax, or is it another name for that tax and will it replace it?” he asked.

“Is the household utility charge meant to cover a water charge as a catch-all in the sense that the people can be soaked under whatever brand name is required?”

Mr Higgins said that whether a charge was made under one heading or three, the effect on living standards would be the same.

He predicted that there would be mass opposition to the imposition of charges, with taxpayers openly saying they could not afford them.

It would be a case of “cannot pay, will not pay”, said Mr Higgins.

He asked how the Taoiseach would deal with the growing anger in society in response to people being made scapegoats at his behest to salvage the big European bankers.

Mr Kenny said the memorandum of understanding was clear on the introduction of a site value tax and a charge for water arising from metering.

“The Government will make a clear decision on these two elements of the memorandum of understanding,” he added.

Summer Works Scheme 2011

The Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Skills is pleased to announce details of the Summer Works Scheme for 2011 and to invite applications under the Scheme in accordance with the terms of this Circular Letter.

The purpose of the Summer Works Scheme is to devolve funding to individual school authorities to undertake small-scale building works which, ideally, can be carried out during the summer months or at other times that avoid disrupting the operation of the school.  Under the terms of the Scheme, school authorities are empowered to manage these works with guidance from, and minimal interaction, with the Department.

Funding for small scale projects will be allocated in accordance with the prioritisation criteria attaching to the Scheme which, in the normal course, include the ability to have the works carried out during the summer.  However, in certain circumstances, the Department may allocate funding to further projects later in the year where these can be carried out without disruption to the operation of the school.  If this arises, the terms and conditions of the Scheme will continue to apply when allocating funding to such projects.

Under the 2011 Scheme, schools may apply for one small scale project only.

Details of the terms and conditions attaching to the application are contained in part 2 of this Circular Letter.
The closing date for receipt of all applications under this Scheme is 21 January 2011.

For full details click the link below

http://www.education.ie/home/home.jsp?pcategory=22132&ecategory=55796&language=EN

Both schemes are provided for in Ireland’s Rural Development Programme and are intended to remain open for applications until end-2013.

Under the terms of the Programme, €45 million is being made available for the Dairy Equipment Scheme with a further €8 million being provided for the Rainwater Harvesting Scheme.

Under the terms of the Rural Development Programme, the Dairy Equipment Scheme will provide grant-aid for milking machine equipment and milk storage and cooling equipment, at a standard grant-rate of 40 per cent up to a maximum grant level.

The Rainwater Harvesting Scheme will also provide grant-aid at a standard grant-rate of 40 per cent up to a maximum grant level for the installation of rainwater collection tanks and ancillary items.

Under the terms of both Schemes, selection criteria will be applied in order to determine those applications which will proceed to the approval stage.

Read the full press release on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food website

Source: Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

Charges for water services differ between local authorities, depending on the cost of their capital (water services infrastructure) programmes, the cost of operating their treatment plants and the cost of administering the metering /billing elements of their programmes.

In accordance with government Water Pricing Policy, local authorities are identifying and metering all the non-domestic users of their water services.  Non-domestic supplies would include supplies for trades, industry and businesses, including agriculture, hotels, B&Bs and any other short-term accommodation, and also educational or sports facilities as well as hospitals or community or charitable services.  Customers’ bills are calculated by means of a metered charge based on the volume of water used. In most cases this charge includes for water supply and sewage collection and disposal, i.e., on the basis of the “water in/water out” principle. Where the installation of a meter is impracticable, local authorities can issue bills based on a fixed charge.  Where a meter measures both a non-domestic supply and a domestic (household) supply, credit will be given for the domestic element.

The metering of non-domestic water supply connections is considered to be a more equitable way for non-domestic customers to pay for water services.  Metering is also a useful tool in identifying leaks in the water piping system and thereby benefits water conservation.

The funding of domestic water services will continue through the Water Services Investment Programme for infrastructure projects and through the Local Government Fund for operational costs.

Domestic Water Metering

Following the phased installation of water meters, households will be charged for water services based on usage in line with the government commitment. .

The Department is currently examining the various options to ensure the delivery of the metering programme in the most cost effective manner, but it is expected that the roll-out of meters will begin next year.

“Water metering will be an absolutely essential element in ensuring that we get a water system that works, that is fair and  is sustainable in the long-term.

“The metering system will allow for much better network management by local authorities, and it should also help consumers adjust their consumption patterns,” Minister Gormley said.

“International experience of reductions in water consumption would indicate that there can be significant water savings arising from the installation of meters. A recent report for the UK Government found average savings of 16 per cent per household accrued from the installation of meters.”

As a result of water metering end users will then receive a water bill calculated by the volume of water that passes through the meter. The aim of this is that the people who use more, pay more. This should raise peoples awareness regarding how much water they use, and ultimately waste. This will encourage people to embrace water conservation which will have a positive effect on the environment.

The devices are an attempt to cope with areas where the local population has outgrown the sewage treatment capabilities.

Each dome contains multiple layers – like the skin of an onion – which increases the surface area that comes into contact with the water to be treated.

Useful bacteria can grow on this surface, consuming pollutants from the water at greater levels than might be achieved through mechanical means.

Normal water saving processes used in sewage farms involve mechanically agitating the water to encourage the removal of pollutants by bacteria.

However, the Bio-Domes – or ‘poo-gloos’ as they are nicknamed – offer an inexpensive way of achieving results that would normally cost millions of dollars.

Poo-gloo was the original name used to refer to the domes during development, but manufacturer Wastewater Compliance Systems says Bio-Dome “isn’t quite as fun; but it’s much more versatile”.

IT WILL take at least 10 years of sustained investment to replace or rehabilitate the decaying or substandard water mains that have burst in Dublin and elsewhere over the past fortnight, depriving thousands of people of one of the basic necessities of life during the Christmas holidays.

As Dublin City Council’s chief engineer, Michael Phillips, said this time last year when another rapid thaw caused similar difficulties, “there is no magic wand we can wave” to solve the problem. Much depends on the political priorities of the next government.

Given that domestic water charges are not due to be implemented until 2014, as pledged in the present Government’s recovery programme, hundreds of millions of euro in public money will have to be found over the next three years to pay for the work that needs to be done.

In Dublin, the demand for water surged to 610Ml – that’s megalitres, or 610 million litres in plain language – on St Stephen’s Day and 625Ml the following day. “This was by far the highest two-day demand we ever had,” says the council’s chief sanitary-services engineer, Brian Smyth. “We lost 130Ml from storage, just like that, and we’re still trying to recover.”

“It was as if someone had pulled a plug at the reservoirs,” says the Fingal county manager, David O’Connor. This unprecedented level of water loss happened even though all schools and many businesses were closed for the Christmas holidays.

What aggravated the problem was the extraordinary speed of the thaw after such a prolonged cold spell. Temperatures in some parts of the country rose from minus 15 degrees to plus 10 in just 36 hours.

Ground movements caused by the freeze and rapid thaw led to water mains and service pipes bursting, according to Gerry Galvin, the principal engineering adviser for water at the Department of the Environment. Many household connections were also affected, mainly because they had not been laid deep enough.

“Since the late 1970s building regulations have required all services to be protected from the elements, with pipes to all new houses laid a minimum of 600mm below the surface,” he says.

Many of the leaks arose in unattended commercial premises, which is why appeals were made to keyholders to carry out urgent checks. “More than 5,000 leaks were repaired over the past week throughout the country, ranging from small leaks to burst mains,” Galvin says.

“In most areas supply has been restored, even at low pressure and with night-time restrictions as local authorities continue to replenish depleted reservoirs.”

Co Clare was the “worst affected” this week. The duration of cuts will vary until reservoirs are full again, he adds.

Last April, Minister for the Environment John Gormley published details of a new water services investment programme worth €1.5 billion over the three years from 2010 to 2012. Of the total, €320 million was earmarked for the replacement or rehabilitation of defective or leaking water mains. “This will replace about 600km of the worst mains,” says Galvin. “But it’s going to take a considerable length of time sustaining the same level of investment if the problem is to be solved.” His own estimate is that just dealing with the worst mains will take 10 years.

The problem for this country is that our low population density means we have an awful lot of water mains – 25,000km in all, more per 1,000 people than any other European country. “Barcelona, with three times Dublin’s population, has only 4,500km of water main, compared to 8,000km in Dublin.”

To avail of the latest tranche of funding, each local authority with responsibility for water had to submit a “mains replacement and rehabilitation strategy [to the department], in order to ensure that we’re getting the best bang for our buck”, as Galvin puts it.

Dublin City Council is ahead of the posse because it put in place telemetry systems and district meter areas, which allow it to target mains for the best returns. (Telemetry systems allow workers to monitor water systems remotely.) As a result, “in the next two years, 100km of mains will be replaced” in the city and its water region.

According to the council, levels of leakage in the region have been reduced from 43 per cent in the late 1990s to about 30 per cent. Since 2006, however, only 60km of defective water mains have been replaced – 10 per cent of the total needing renewal.

Not a single kilometre of leaky mains was replaced in Dublin last year, despite last January’s water crisis. Work is due to start shortly on rehabilitation schemes in Dún Laoghaire, Bray and Wicklow under three separate contracts, and two further tenders will close next month. As a result the length of mains replaced or rehabilitated is expected to increase to 115km by the end of this year.

Projects to renew a further 165km are “sitting on the shelf ready to go as soon as we get a nod from the department,” says Smyth.

In the past most of the emphasis in successive water-investment programmes was on water and sewage treatment schemes, driven by a legal requirement to meet the terms of EU water-quality directives. This meant that water-main renewal was virtually neglected.

AFTER REVELATIONS THAT the leakage rate in some counties, such as Roscommon, Kilkenny and south Tipperary, was more than 50 per cent, compared with less than 20 per cent in south Dublin, John Gormley decided to “make it a priority after years of underinvestment”. The programme he launched last April would provide “record levels of investment in both overall water infrastructure and, in particular, mains rehabilitation”.

He also dismisses Fine Gael’s proposal for a national water authority, pointing to the experience of Northern Ireland Water, which has been criticised for leaving thousands without supplies over Christmas.

On Thursday, after a lengthy board meeting and consultations between lawyers, it was announced that Northern Ireland Water’s Scottish-born chief executive, Laurence MacKenzie, was stepping down after 18 months in office. It was said to be a personal decision. Nonetheless, as the publicly-owned company’s website says, MacKenzie was “responsible for the overall performance of Northern Ireland Water”.

That’s not how it turned out. Over a three-day period after Christmas, Northern Ireland Water was bombarded with 600,000 phone calls, 10,000 e-mails and 500,000 hits on its website from customers who had been left in the lurch. An independent investigation has been ordered. A six-hour meeting of the Stormont Executive on Thursday night agreed that the inquiry will look into the performance both of the company and of Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy, of Sinn Féin, during the crisis. Murphy has rejected calls that he should resign.

Gerry Galvin says Northern Ireland Water “didn’t have the resources to draw on to fix leaks whereas councils here were able to redeploy staff from other departments to help with this work”. It also seems that there was a “water production problem” in the North.

He also points out that privatised utilities in Britain, including Anglian Water, Yorkshire Water, Scottish Water and Welsh Water, all had similar problems to ours. “I’ve looked up all their websites – it’s just that they didn’t receive as much media coverage,” he says.

Galvin says the €4.6 billion invested in Irish water infrastructure between 2000 and 2009 “compares very favourably with the UK”, where €90 billion worth of investment was made by British water companies, given the difference in scale between the two countries.

One issue on which Gormley is clear is that any proposal to set up a privatised national water utility here “has to be resisted tooth and nail”. The idea of “making money out of it should be anathema to right-thinking people”.