I hate to mention this but...Water Metering!!!

It's called double jeopardy. gits.

I might not be able to keep 25 tanks anymore

For sure no more RO for me or I find a way to keep the dirty water back to wash clothes or flush the toilet

this is the last thing that people that lost their jobs need
they cant even pay the electricty bill
now they will have to pay for water also
a big kick in the rocks for fishkeepers
may as well get started on drilling the well

I know most countries in europe pay water charges, but you can guarantee its gonna be less than we will pay and of a far better quality!

I hope theres some sort of allowance for people on the dole.

ah well time to start collecting rainwater, god knows we have enough of that in this country... as usual the country is being screwed by politicians on over infalted wages for their incompetence in ruining Ireland ltd.

Interested to hear any sponser's take on this. It's not just going to effect the cost to hobbyists with regard to water usage, livestock and equipment are going to have to increase in price I assume as the costs for retailers increases. This is going to make online retailers seem more attractive to some people. There could be a very serious knock on effect that could be very damaging to the hobby in this country.

the restaurant/hotel pay charge on the water, i think it's the same for every commercial purpose

For us, that getting worse if you do RO water ( a lot of waste which mean more water use )

A lot of country pay for their water, but at least they have better quality than us, when i see how hard is mine, that get me depressed to have to pay for it

Thanks John, I hadn't realised that. Good to know.

all this lot is good for is find ways to get more money for their friends wait till they get the private sector in to run the water then we will know all about it

is rain water safe and is anyone using it,also wont the next election be here before the water rates so may not happen if a new goverment come in

Mate of mine uses rain water for his 400l tank and swears by it........

Hi,
just watching a program on the Liffey and water in general in Dublin area.it says that each day each person uses in average 180litres of water!
Thought it would be interesting fact on this thread.

well i know for a fact Aquapaws does have to water charges as do most legitimate business' so no real change there, only now are they rolling it out to the general public.... time to invest in water butts folks

Aw yes the greens latest suicide mission with the voters, introduce water charges just before the next election in 2012 Contentious issue indeed, but the country is broke so its either raise taxes or default thats the reality unfortunatly. Your going to end up paying one way or the other, Only the start of the pain IMHO thats if you havent already emigrated!!

JohnH wrote:

I'm shocked that everybody is so passive on this subject - 127 views and only two comments added!

This issue will affect each and every one of us!

Perhaps all the other Forum members are bankers???
(Who will easily be able to afford whatever charges are levied).

John

To be fair its the top fatcats that are the ones who can afford it, the average worker is just as pissed as the rest of the country.

Gavin

Bankers or Brokers, whatever it is certainly not going to encourage good fishkeeping practices for the general public that probably are not as efficient with their water changes as they should be already. Any excuse to put it off until next week is bad and not good for the hobby generally. Of course the costs are going to be a consideration for serious fishkeepers too, but realistically a water change is going to cost cents and won't be anywhere near the cost of electricity, it will just be another fact of life.

I am seriously considering reducing my number of tanks by at least half for two reasons, time and €800 ESB bills, now I have a third reason.

RO water is going to be more expensive but at least it should encourage creative thinking around the use of the "waste" water, I hardly ever used RO except for certain species tanks, but since the flood and freeze our water has increased from a constant pH of 7.0 to 7.6 to 8.0 and I need it now much more ofter to reduce pH for lots of my tanks, so now we are paying more for less. Why am I not surprised.


Daragh

WTF!!!! I wouldn mind a little charge if the water was good quality,but the water in my area gets cut from 9pm till 7am the next morning for the past few weeks,and the build up of lime is crazy,the ph changed too,
i can see the headlines now :blessington lakes evaporates overnight:it may come t that hahaha!!

No Im just saying that people rattle on about Bankers,labelling the poor sod on the front desk as a banker and the cause of the mess etc...its like everyone gives out about the health service but no one gives out about the nurses....the banks should be the same...the bankers is labelling everyone working in a bank!!Its the top bosses that made the money,I know lots of ppl who have been let go from various banks and they have had some abuse thrown at them since this whole mess started.

Besides all that, the water charges are the Green parties little plan to make Ireland more greener etc...Bankers,Politicians,whoever we want to blame,its not going to stop the charges coming our way

Blame it all on the recklessness of Anglo Irish Bank and the lack of Banking regulation in this country. They seem (The Government) to blame everyone else for the downturn if its not the Developers its the Trade Unions then its the Public Sector and back again then to the banks, There is a blatant attack on the lower to middle paid in this country while the rich to richer (I mean millionaire rich) walk away laughing at us all(Mr Drum & Mr Fitzpatrick spring to mind amongst others). While the Government takes deserved pride in their propaganda machine(RTE) while all citizens of the state have a go at each other of who is more to blame. If Anglo Irish Bank had been allowed collapse (remember its the Fianna Fail Bank with their Galway Tent Mates). Where anyone who was someone could get loan approval for millions with no security required in less then a week. There would be no need for NAMA who unfortunately is responsible for extorting all these extra taxes, driving pay cuts across the economy tending to many businesses forcing redundancy due to lack of funds and to all the extra and stealth charges we all face. So water Charges? Not only are we forced to pay more for a hobby but are expected to pay to stay alive in this god forsaken country. Just remember peeps when the election comes, make sure you all contribute to end this corruption or as it can be otherwise known Economic Treason. Drink as much tea, eat and wash well while you can before your tanks get priority !!!!

Yeah NAMA , Now Attack Mere Aquarists, , they are getting through us all one way or another. Some in more ways than one.

Daragh_Owens wrote:

RO water is going to be more expensive but at least it should encourage creative thinking around the use of the "waste" water, I hardly ever used RO except for certain species tanks, but since the flood and freeze our water has increased from a constant pH of 7.0 to 7.6 to 8.0 and I need it now much more ofter to reduce pH for lots of my tanks, so now we are paying more for less. Why am I not surprised.

It is possible to feed a smaller RO unit with the waste water from a larger RO unit, and then another time if possible. I have seen this done in the UK. If you are savvy enough you can hugely minimize the amount of waste water... Although this means investing in more RO units.

If we bring it back to "basics" - how many litres does a toilet flush use and it's ratio to your water changes?

Just to add to this... Are the government going make the best of a bad situation and implement a scheme to use out-of-work plumbers from the private sector to go around and fit meters to every home in the country?... I bet they ain't! No, they'll start some new department in a new office that costs millions with hundreds of chiefs and half as many indians and use dodgy meters that'll all have to be replaced in a year.