Irish Water reduces its estimated level of household consumption

Information gathered from the country’s water-metering programme has led Irish Water to conclude that households used less water than previously thought.

The utility told the Oireachtas Committee on the future of water charges that it had revised its calculations on water usage after the metering programme revealed individual water use was about 110 litres per day, at the lower end of international comparisons. It had previously estimated that individuals used in excess of 140 litres per day.

Managing director Jerry Grant told the committee that his company supplied about 1.7 billion litres of drinking water to homes and businesses a day. However, he also highlighted that around 765 million litres a day were being lost because of leaks in the public pipe network - about 45 per cent of overall water supply.