The price of water may have been a political hot potato for years, but its true value is another issue entirely. This precious resource of ours will come under threat as the impacts of climate change become more apparent, with extreme flooding and droughts having the potential to cause major disruption to our water supply.
Máiréad Conlon, water resources strategy lead with Uisce Éireann, says there are a number of risks that could impact our water supply.
Mairead Conlon, water resources strategy lead with Uisce Éireann
“The most obvious is the volume of water we have during drought events but also extreme freeze/thaw events that we might start to experience,” she explains. “This is when we have the freezing of the ground where our infrastructure is situated, and subsequent thaw can cause bursts and leaks in our mains and make it difficult to meet demand.”
But not only is the quantity of our water a concern, its quality must also be protected. Conlon points out that changing weather patterns can have an impact on the quality of our water supply, with heavy rainfall events disturbing material in catchment areas that then drains into water sources. This causes problems for water treatment plans, which Conlon says are already running at 100 per cent capacity due to high demand. These plants are also located in rural areas, making them particularly vulnerable to power cuts during extreme weather events.
“We need to become more prepared for all these events,” she says. “We are reviewing the change in weather patterns and we have identified approaches to protect the quality, quantity and reliability.”
Uisce Éireann has begun this preparation in earnest. The sustainability of our water supply is one of the central tenets of the National Water Resources Plan, a 25-year strategy, while the Water Supply Project, recently given the go-ahead by the Government, seeks to make the water supply for up to half of the population “climate resilient” by creating a “water spine” from the river Shannon to Dublin.
It also consults regularly with other countries on their mitigation plans. “We are talking to our utility partners in the UK and Europe about how they are dealing with those challenges and the measures they have in place,” says Conlon.
An Fóram Uisce, the statutory body concerned with water quality, says a number of priority actions must be taken as the impact of climate change continues to be felt. Its chairman, Matt Crowe, says drought and flood management plans need to be developed and published.
“The eastern and Dublin areas are particularly vulnerable to dry weather spells and have vulnerable water supply in that there is limited headroom to maintain supply during prolonged dry spells,” he explains. “Treatment plants need to be climate change risk-proofed and quality control systems at water treatment plants need to be in place to address extreme weather events.”
There are significant challenges. Ireland’s water infrastructure is infamously ageing – Tánaiste Micheál Martin recently suggested that a chunk of the €14 billion Apple tax windfall could be spent on its repair and replacement.
“In Ireland we also have a very fragmented supply, a situation that wouldn’t be the same in other countries,” says Conlon. The national water resources plan looks to interconnect those networks, which will help with resilience of supply, she adds. “When they are interconnected, this means customers have access to more than one source of supply so if there is an issue or an outage then we can provide an alternative source. We are also focused on getting our water treatment plants back to where they are operating more at a level of 80 per cent that we do have spare capacity in case a plant goes down, so customers are less impacted.”
As part of the Water Supply Project, Conlon says Uisce Éireann will be extracting water from “really resilient sources” such as lakes and existing reservoirs. “These are less vulnerable to the impact of climate change,” she says.
According to Stephen Prendiville, who leads Deloitte’s sustainable infrastructure practice, the investment required in these preparedness and contingency plans must be viewed in the context of the value we place on water.
“Water needs to be treated as a commodity in the way that we treat other commodities that we trade in,” he says. “From a decarbonisation perspective, we need to fundamentally acknowledge that our water has a carbon footprint because of all the energy that goes into pumping it, priming it and moving it around. Irish Water is one of our most significant energy users.”
An Fóram Uisce has recommended that a foundational public information campaign be provided on water supply, provision and treatment. A 2023 survey of more than 1,500 water consumers found little knowledge or understanding of potential future water quality and security challenges, Crowe says.
“Ireland has the tenth highest water use in the EU and 74 per cent of people are willing to implement water conservation measures but do not know how to do so. Water efficiency fittings in all new houses could help address that risk. The Water Forum has made recommendations on this to the Government.”
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Publish date : 2024-10-29 22:12:00
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