Dáil debates

Thursday, 12 July 2018

Water Conservation: Statements

 

3:50 pm

Photo of Michael FitzmauriceMichael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I join other Members in asking the public to conserve water in every way possible. Over the years there has been underinvestment; there is no point in saying otherwise. I have heard people talking about how the climate has changed. In 1976, we had about a month of fine weather. It has not rained now for 19 days and we are short of water in a country that has plenty of water. The reason is that we do not have enough reservoir space. Similarly, if one does not have enough fodder for a longer winter one will not survive. This is our problem. It requires infrastructure but providing infrastructure, even with the best will in the world, takes three to five years.

I listened to the talk about bringing water to Dublin. People are forecasting everything. I was involved with installing a pipe to a multinational in Dublin. It was 1 m in size and takes 9 million gallons per day. Who can forecast how the different companies will grow? People who say there will be enough water if the leaks are fixed do not know the investment that might take place in the country. Second, if one were to fix all the pipes in Dublin, and I have done this work, it would cause chaos. Everybody would be jumping up and down saying that Dublin is at a standstill and businesses are losing billions. It has to be done in a phased transitional way. One cannot block every street or put diggers on every street. It will take time. That is the opinion of somebody who has worked on this. I believe in meters, regardless of whether there is charging. That is how one can know whether there are many leaks.

The Minister should be collaborating with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Most cattle in the country are drinking chlorinated water these days.

Previously, they would go around the side of a drain and drink from it, or there was a pump. We need initiatives such as sub-pumps, which would involve bringing a pipe out from the corner of a river, dropping pea shingles into it and then sending down a sub-pump to pump up the water. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine should be working on initiatives like this under TAMS. In fairness, it does operate a rain water harvesting scheme for slatted sheds. What I am suggesting could be done. It would not solve the problem for everyone but it would probably solve the problem for the 50% to 60% of farms close to rivers or streams.

People talk about bringing water to Dublin. This is not just about Dublin. There are 66 plants in Leinster that are under pressure for water at the best of times. We need to put in place a mega water storage facility. That would resolve the issue. One can have all the plants in the world one wants but without water storage facilities one is in trouble. I recall that it was once proposed to put in a liner on a bog in Laois. We need to do something similar to ensure we have back up for ten or 15 days. We would also need to put a paddle into it to keep it fresh. That is how to solve the problem.

The group water schemes are doing their part in terms of conserving water. They have decreased the number of leakages on their systems but the Minister needs to keep on them to make sure they are okay.

Deputy O'Sullivan spoke about bringing water to Dublin from the Shannon. In doing that, we will need to put in place a spur that can hit north, south, east and west, so that we can tap into it whenever there is a crisis. The west will be serviced from Lough Corrib, Lough Conn and Lough Mask. They will be interconnected and that is a good idea. Group water schemes are working on putting in place a back-up well in case they run low.

In a period of dry weather, we hear about climate change and so on. We have had no rain for approximately 20 days and so it is not the end of the world. Water levels in springs, lakes and rivers will drop during periods of dry weather. Rain falls from the sky and then it goes down through the rocks and then it busts up. That is the way it operates in most places. Most of the year we are sound for water but we do not have sufficient storage capacity. Whether or not we like it, storage costs money. There has been no investment in this area for many years. We now need to solve the problem and to invest for the next five, ten or 15 years in the construction of massive water storage facilities, which we will then have to chlorinate and keep fresh and all of this costs money. People will have to ensure there is investment in our water infrastructure in the coming years.

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