The Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU) report found that 626 million litres of water—equivalent to 7.8 million baths—were lost daily due to “public side leakage.” This accounted for around 37% of all water supplied by Uisce Éireann that year.

The CRU highlighted concerns that Uisce Éireann was falling short of its target to reduce public side leakage by 161 million litres per day over five years, with the deadline set for the end of 2024. Leakage savings dropped from 41 million litres per day in 2021 to just 11 million litres per day in 2022.

In addition to the 626 million litres lost daily through leakage, the report identified 12 million litres (about 150,000 baths) as “unaccounted for water,” and another 17 million litres (212,500 baths) used for operational purposes. On a positive note, the First Fix Scheme saved 30 million litres of water daily in 2022, up from 14 million litres the year prior—likely due to resumed leak repairs following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite this progress, only 46% of customers responded to notifications about potential leaks on their properties in 2022, taking advantage of the First Fix Scheme. The CRU urged more customers to engage with Uisce Éireann to make the scheme effective.

The report showed that Uisce Éireann served over 1.8 million customers in 2022, with approximately 90% being households. Each household consumed an average of 126,000 litres annually, or 345 litres (4.3 baths) per day. Households exceeding the Minister for the Environment’s annual allowance of 213,000 litres (equivalent to 584 litres per day) may face excess use charges in the future. Non-domestic customers averaged 1,772 litres per day.

Notably, the top 10% of metered households accounted for 35% of all water consumption, with the top 1%—about 16,000 households—responsible for around 13% of total demand. The CRU reported that these households used 14 times more water than the average domestic customer.