Heavy local levels of water usage

Water metering showed Offaly to be among the greatest consumers of water during 2015, figures from the Central Statistics Office show.

Kerry and Tipperary came top of the list with average daily usage of 430 litres; followed by Tipperary on 427; Longford on 424 with Westmeath and Laois sharing fourth place on the list with average daily usage of 418 litres.

In fifth position was Roscommon, with an average daily usage of 416, followed by Offaly, which registered a daily average of 413.

The usage of water in Offaly was fairly consistent, month by month, ranging from a low of 406 litres daily in July 2015 to a high of 428 litres in March.

Cavan had the lowest average consumption in 2015 at 313 litres. Nationally, the average consumption per meter per day in 2015 varied from 274 litres to 383 litres depending on whether domestic water meters recording large consumption are included or excluded.

Around 69% of total water consumption by domestic metered customers in 2015 was accounted for by 96.6% of customers. However, 12% of total water consumption was ascribed to just 0.3% of customers.

The number of domestic water meters in January 2015 was 519,781 and this increased to 764,319 by December 2015.

The average monthly consumption varied from 368 litres per meter per day in November to 402 litres in March.

Grouping average daily consumption by size class, 3.4% of customers had an average daily consumption in 2015 of 1,000 litres or more per metre per day. These customers accounted for 31% of all consumption in 2015.