Water charging was due to start from October 1st 2014 – but that was changed in November and now charges won’t begin until Jan 1st 2015.
The bills will be quarterly – with the first bill covering the period from Jan 1st 2015 to March 31st 2015
People without meters will be charged what is termed an “assessed charge” – a flat rate based on the number of adult occupants. See the rates here.
Metered charges will be based on usage with a certain number of litres “free” if there are children in the house – see metered water charge rates here . Note – bills for all metered homes will be capped at the assessed charges shown above until the end of 2018.
Reading Your Water Meter
It might be a good idea to know how to read our own water meter – a) so you can check your bills are correct . b) You can see how much water you are using and prepare for the bills or maybe identify that you have a leak.
Your meter should be under a meter box lid – usually a square plastic lid. You should be able to easily open this using something like a flat screwdriver to lever it open. There should be some insulation (foam block) which can be lifted out and below that toushould see the meter. If it is not clearly visible try using a mobile phone to take a photo.
A typical water meter will have the numbers visible on a dial as shown below. The numbers in black are cubic meters or thousands of litres. The reading shown below is 1234 cubic meters OR 1,234,678 litres. The red numbers may not all be visible on some meters because thay may be covered by other devices. But it’s the black ones that really matter . Once you go over any free allowance for children you will be charged €3.70 per 1000l (cubic meter)