Dubs could face water bill shock

DUBLINERS will have to change their water habits if they want to avoid big bills when charges are introduced in 2015.

Prices haven’t been set but depending on the area, the average cost in the UK ranges from just under

?¬150 a year to over

?¬260 – and that’s not including their sewage charges.

The Brits are used to measuring how much water they use in order to reduce bills, but up to now there’s been no financial reason to count the cost of water here.

But a recent survey by Irish Water, the national body charged with managing and billing for water supplies, found that 80 per cent of Dubliners don’t know how much water they use on a daily basis.

According to estimates, each person consumes around 150 litres of water per day. That’s almost two full bathtubs a day or 54,750 litres each year – most of which is flushed away every day.

Showers are one of the biggest consumers of water in Irish households. The average seven minute shower uses up to 49 litres of hot water while power showers can use 175 litres in the same period.

More than half (58 per cent) of Dubliners surveyed have a power shower at home, which means in a year many of us are individually washing away over 63,800 litres of water – or 112,456 pints – on showering alone.

Reducing shower time by just one minute could save up to 9,000 litres of water per year.

Brushing teeth with the tap running is one of the most common ways of wasting water in the home with approximately six litres of water used per minute.

By turning off the tap when brushing your teeth, it’s estimated that up to 7,000 litres of water can be saved per year.

When it comes to doing laundry in Dublin, 78 per cent of those surveyed underestimated how much water an average washing machine uses per load.

However, 91 per cent also say they fully load the washing machine, which helps conserve water and save money by reducing energy bills. The average washing machine uses up to 65 litres of water per cycle, so one wash per household in Ireland equates to 104 million litres of water.

There are also savings to be made when brewing a cuppa. We tend to overfill our kettles with 76 per cent of Dubliners admitting to using more water than they need for brew.

Awareness of household water saving devices is also low in Dublin according to the research but this is likely to change as people become more water conscious with the introduction of water metering.

More than half of those surveyed in Dublin (53 per cent) have no idea what a toilet displacement device is, which can reduce the volume of water per flush by up to three litres.

Elizabeth Arnett from Irish Water said the survey shows that many of us are unaware of the sheer volume of water we are using on a daily basis.

“However, it also confirms that there are many opportunities for us to reduce water wastage,

? she added.

“Understanding how much water we use will help us determine how much we can save. Irish Water will use the metering programme as an opportunity to gather information on water consumption habits which will help customers to improve water efficiency measures over time.

?