Resilience 5/7 Water is a Public Health Issue
On Monday last the Irish Times newspaper ran a piece where Irish Water, our water utility urged the public not to water gardens or undertake washing of cars, patios and driveways in order to conserve supplies for essential purposes during the pandemic.
Unfortunately not everyone reads the paper – listens to the radio – or indeed takes any heed. I could hear many power hoses at work today. Sprucing up the dusty bonnets and greening the lawns to perfection. Meanwhile our water supply is under strain. With such little rainfall in the past 5 weeks and this trend set to continue, we need to be taking these messages more seriously.
Hand washing is going to continue to be essential, and when businesses re-open we will see the real demand for water in the urban and rural areas. I’m sure the utility is already modelling these effects to be at the ready for this. Also, I assume that there are strategies in place – other than messages of conservation – that will ensure water resilience in Ireland. Remember it is a public health issue.
So anyone feeling the need to water that beautiful green lawn – have a think about the resource that you are putting under strain for essential public health uses.