Irish Water launch campaign to conserve water
- Thu 02 August, 2018
Irish Water is reminding people to continue to conserve water after research shows over 50% of people surveyed underestimate their daily usage by half.
On Thursday, August 2nd, Irish Water published new research and launched a public information campaign on the importance of continuing to conserve water.
The research shows that over 50% of those surveyed under-estimate average daily personal water usage by half. The average person uses 129 litres of water a day, as verified by the Irish Water’s economic regulator, Commission for Regulation of Utilities.
However the research commissioned by Irish Water indicates that 56% of those surveyed believe that the average person uses less than 50 litres of water per day, 20% believe they use between 51 and 100 litres, 14% estimate that it’s between 101 and 200 litres and 10% believe it is over 200 litres.
The research was conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes (B&A) of 1000 adults between 11th July and 19th July 2018 on the public water usage and attitudes.
For businesses, Irish Water has created a leaflet on Water Conservation for Business with some advice on how small changes can make a big difference.
According to Irish Water it’s important that people know just how much they actually us if they are going to try to reduce what they use.
The B&A survey also shows that two out of three people (65%) have begun to make a concerted effort to change their behaviour in order to conserve water and Irish Water want to continue to support and encourage this positive behaviour.
Commenting on the survey, Chartered Engineer and Irish Water’s Corporate Affairs Manager Kate Gannon said,
Conserving water is a new conversation for many people but an important one. The recent period of drought has shown that the demand on Ireland’s water supply can impact homes and businesses across the country. Irish Water wants to support people in their choices around their water use; beginning by showing people how much they actually use. The fact that 65% of people have started to make a concerted effort to conserve water since the beginning of the drought is really encouraging but to see real and positive effects, we hope to see to long-term and permanent changes to the way we all use water.
“Our main priority is to safeguard our water for the future and ensure that we do all we can to minimise the risk of widespread outages and interruptions to supply into the future. We are doing what we can by ramping up leakage repair, taking operational interventions and supporting and educating customers. However, given the size and scale of the challenge that faces us, it is vital that the public continue to play a role in conservation.”
These research results are highlighted today as Irish Water launches a public information campaign, encouraging the public to use a little less and conserve water. The campaign, which will be seen across TV, radio and online, in newspapers, and on outdoor over the coming weeks, offers simple tips and advice on how to conserve water, which can be found on www.water.ie