Mr. Liam McCarton:

Currently, all water coming into a person's house is treated to potable standard. About a quarter is used in hot water systems, and only about 43% is actually used for potable supply in the kitchen for drinking, cooking and so on. Rainwater harvesting is focused on that 30% we use in the toilets.

In 2005, we were commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, through the national rural water and monitoring committee and the national federation of water schemes, to examine the question whether rainwater harvesting was feasible on a domestic and agricultural level. The next slide shows an example of one of the systems we introduced in Ballinabranagh in Carlow, which is typical of the current systems. It is a fairly high-tech approach, where the water is being captured in an underground system and is being pumped back into the house for use.