Report of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group

• Allocating grants to improve the quality of private and private group
water supplies through the Rural Water Programme;
• Water metering and charging for non-domestic water users;
• Acquisition of premises and wayleaves.
10.3.3 The total budgeted expenditure for water services in 2010 by local
authorities comes to €722.3 million. According to figures collected by the
Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government from local
authorities, in early 2010 the number of staff working in the water services
area in local government was in excess of 3,000, accounting for about one
in ten of all local authority staff.
10.3.4 Some 1.6 billion litres of drinking water are treated by water services
authorities on a daily basis, and the public water network comprises over
22,000 kilometres of mains. The water supply sector comprises a number
of large water supply systems in larger urban areas, together with many
smaller systems dispersed through the country, reflecting the availability of
water in proximity to most areas of population. Local authorities are
responsible for over 950 public water supply zones ranging from the very
small (50 or more) to the very large (such as Ballymore Eustace which
supplies water to a population of 500,000 in Dublin). Similarly, local
authorities are responsible directly, or indirectly, for waste water treatment in
some 482 agglomerations with a population equivalent of more than 500
(including some very large schemes in areas such as Dublin, Cork, Galway,
and Limerick). Supervision of the provision and operation of water and
waste water services is carried out by the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), which has powers to direct authorities to carry out specific actions
and, in situations of non-compliance, powers to prosecute authorities.
10.3.5 While there are some notable outcomes under the current structures, and
overall water supplies achieve a high level of compliance with drinking water
standards, the structures also have a number of inherent weaknesses which
impact on overall effectiveness and efficiency and in facing future
challenges. The EPA has highlighted deficiencies in the operational
practices of local authorities in its reports of its water-related supervisory
activities. For example, the EPA’s report on waste water treatment
discharges for 2006 and 2007 noted that 20% of treatment plants were
found to be non-compliant due to inadequate sampling and monitoring by
local authorities. Local authority service indicators for 2008 have also
highlighted issues regarding unacceptably high levels of unaccounted-forwater
in certain areas (see Appendix 9), and with the collection rates for
non-domestic water charges.
10.3.6 Since 2007, service provision costs have been rising by approximately 7.5%
per annum. Drivers of costs include the increased costs of regulatory
compliance with EU and national legislation, increases in energy costs, and
costs associated with the significant investment in new infrastructure for
treating drinking water and waste water (see section 1.7). The €4.6 billion
invested in public water and waste water infrastructure over the past decade
has increased capacity by the equivalent of a population of 3.6 million in
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