Does Irish Water notify people that they have abnormally high water usage?

Brendan Burgess

Brendan Burgess

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1% of metered households use 25% of the water.
10% of households use 37% of the water.

How many households do we have ? 1m? So 1% would be 10,000

Does Irish Water contact these 10,000 to tell them?

Even if it's not costing me any money, I would like to know if I have a leak, which could be doing damage to my house.


Water consumption ‘drops significantly’ after Irish Water drive


“We know there was a well-promoted First Fix Free scheme and average consumption has decreased among the largest users,” Mr Brady said.

“The reduction has been in the big, big users. All that to me says it has to be from the leak repairs on the customer side, not in the mains.”

Targeting leaks
This “First Fix Free” programme has been targeting leaks identified by water metres looking for constant or comparatively high levels of use, an indicator that water is leaving the system before it reaches the end user.

This is an astonishing statistic:

In Dublin in 2016, the lowest average daily consumption was in the areas of [broken link removed] and [broken link removed]. This had dropped since 2015 from an average of 290 litres to 274.


The highest level of use in the capital in 2016 was in the areas of [broken link removed], [broken link removed] and [broken link removed], at 569 litres.
 
I got a letter from the yesterday telling us that our usage is high and offering a free visit to help find it.
 
My father got a card in the door saying similar, it didn't say what the usage was though. I never got around to calling them back as the leak is sure to be on his side unfortunately.
 
Brendan Burgess said:
Hi huskerdu

That is very interesting. What is your usage? Is it way off the scale?

Brendan
Click to expand...

Not really. I don't have the letter at work, From memory, the average usage per person is 129, our usage is 850. There are 5 of us in the house, so this is high but not off the scale. Worth investigating. I agree with you, Its not costing me financially but we do want to get it fixed and avoid any damage.

We did some basic investigation last night and there is a constant small stream of water from the cistern to the toilet. We'll get that fixed and contact them then.
 
Two of us living at home. We conserve water, reuse grey water etc. Two adult children have moved back home for a few months and as a result our water usage has probably tripled. However this would be from a low usage.

I will be interested to know if this will cause any blips on the radar over the coming weeks.
 
huskerdu said:
Not really. I don't have the letter at work, From memory, the average usage per person is 129, our usage is 850. There are 5 of us in the house, so this is high but not off the scale. Worth investigating. I agree with you, Its not costing me financially but we do want to get it fixed and avoid any damage.

We did some basic investigation last night and there is a constant small stream of water from the cistern to the toilet. We'll get that fixed and contact them then.
Click to expand...

We got a letter last year. I called & arranged a time for IW's contractor to visit. 1st thing he did was check to see if the leak was outside (between our connection and the house). I think he had to come in to turn off our water inside to be able to check that. He then asked to come in and checked all the toilets in the house. The toilet in our spare room en-suite had the same constant leak (you'd hardly notice it) you mentioned huskerdu. He said that was enough to cause the 500l/day extra usage they said we were using. I got a plumber in and had the toilet repaired and no more issues.

Its a good service by IW in fairness and people should engage with them if possible.
 
I agree.
In all of the debacle about IW and how we pay for water, what have got lost is that we need a authority who is managing our water supply.
We are decades behind where we should be.
 
Ya a lad called out last week telling me I am using 2 litres a min every min of the day. Must be outside can't see any leaking inside. They suposed to come and fix it in the next 14 days.
 
That's an easy and cheap fix if it's a toilet constantly running like that. Unfortunately I feel my father's one is in his tarmac as he had a leak there years ago too, that would not be a cheap or easy one fix!
 
Monbretia said:
That's an easy and cheap fix if it's a toilet constantly running like that. Unfortunately I feel my father's one is in his tarmac as he had a leak there years ago too, that would not be a cheap or easy one fix!
Click to expand...

The First Fix Free scheme will actually fund repairs to pipes outside the house.
 
Interesting, I never like a 'may' be eligible but sure I suppose it's worth a try. Must check if there is an internal stop valve, I know I don't have one and it's a proper nuisance every time you need to get anything done.
 
Monbretia said:
Interesting, I never like a 'may' be eligible but sure I suppose it's worth a try. Must check if there is an internal stop valve, I know I don't have one and it's a proper nuisance every time you need to get anything done.
Click to expand...

Should be worthwhile, worst case scenario they'll come and identify where the issues is for free. Even if it doesn't qualify for a free fix, at least you'll know what is required to fix it and save the cost of someone else doing the search.
 
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