Back to Top

 Skip navigation

Extra information
Methodology Previous Releases
International comparison:
See also:
YouTube Video
For more information on this release:
E-mail: environment@cso.ie Linh Nolan (+353) 1 4984209 Gerry Brady (+353) 1 4984201
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-9940
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption

2015

Threshold levelNumber of metersTotal water consumption (Cubic metres)Average water consumption (Litres per meter per day)Median water consumption (Litres per meter per day)Average/ Median (Ratio)
Total (all meters)771,34892,926,7023832521.52
      
< 1,000 litres per meter per day744,89064,141,3132742451.12
< 5,000 litres per meter per day766,66576,758,6243182511.27
< 10,000 litres per meter per day769,17682,120,3813392511.35

Wide variation in domestic average water consumption

DMPWC2015 Headline Graph
go to full release

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 using a consumption threshold of one cubic metre or 1,000 litres per meter per day. At a higher threshold of 10 cubic metres or 10,000 litres per meter per day, 88% of total water consumption was accounted for by 99.7% of customers. This left the remaining 0.3% of customers accounting for 12% of total water consumption. The median is a less-sensitive measure of daily meter consumption and it varied from 245 litres per meter per day at the one cubic metre threshold to 252 litres per meter per day when all data for 2015 were included (see Table 3).

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. The monthly medians were more stable varying from 239 in July to 258 in March (see Table 1).

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 meter per day. These customers accounted for 31% of all consumption in 2015 (see Table 2).

Grouping average daily consumption by decile showed that the highest decile accounted for 43% of total consumption in 2015 and had an average consumption per meter per day figure of 1,665 litres compared with the overall average of 383 litres (see Table 4).

Table 5A shows the average consumption per meter per day by month and by county. Cavan had the lowest average consumption in 2015 at 313 litres compared with Kerry and Tipperary which had the highest annual average of 430 litres. Cavan also had the lowest monthly average of 288 litres in March 2015 while Longford had the highest monthly average of 474 litres in June 2015. The corresponding medians and numbers of meters are given in Tables 5B and 5C.

Table 6A shows the average consumption by Dublin postal district. Dublin 2 at 283 litres per meter per day had the lowest annual average daily consumption figures in 2015. Dublin 6 had the highest average daily consumption at 488 litres in 2015 although the monthly data for Dublin 6 show a gradual reduction in usage from 516 litres in January to 455 litres in December.

Table 7 compares the trend between 2014 and 2015. In both years the median consumption was 246 litres per meter per day while there was a small increase in mean consumption from 381 in 2014 to 383 litres per meter per day in 2015.

AverageMedian
< 1,000274245
< 5,000318251
< 10,000339251
Total (all meters)383252
Table 1 Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption by Month, 2015
MonthNumber of metersAverage daysTotal consumption (Cubic metres)Average (Litres per meter per day)Median (Litres per meter per day)
January519,781316,302,535391247
February553,441286,013,749388248
March587,220317,314,713402258
April618,041307,335,548396253
May643,547317,762,690389248
June668,480307,942,138396253
July689,932318,169,073382239
August708,391318,382,542382243
September722,842308,106,649374242
October738,393318,480,076370241
November752,403308,316,957368241
December764,319318,800,031371246
      
Total771,34831492,926,702383246
Table 2 Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption by Size Class, 2015
Size Class (Litres per meter per day)Number of metersTotal consumption (Cubic metres)Average (Litres per meter per day)
0 < 1019,30414,4073
10 < 10094,0561,797,78261
100 < 15079,6633,163,935126
150 < 20091,8885,107,095176
200 < 300185,17514,594,291248
300 < 400129,14114,186,418346
400 < 600105,52615,969,159478
600 < 1,00040,1379,308,227738
> = 1,00026,45828,785,3893,549
    
Total771,34892,926,702383
Table 3 Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption by Threshold Level, 2015
Threshold LevelNumber of metersTotal consumption (Cubic metres)Average (Litres per meter per day)Median (Litres per meter per day)
Total (all meters)771,34892,926,702383252
     
< 1,000 litres per meter per day744,89064,141,313274245
< 5,000 litres per meter per day766,66576,758,624318251
< 10,000 litres per meter per day769,17682,120,381339251
Table 4 Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption by Decile, 2015
DecileNumber of metersTotal consumption (Cubic metres)Average (Litres per meter per day)
1st77,134820,24136
2nd77,1352,457,037101
3rd77,1353,653,133150
4th77,1364,693,858192
5th77,1345,664,270232
6th77,1356,700,168273
7th77,1357,856,858321
8th77,1359,343,632381
9th77,13511,719,998480
10th77,13440,017,5091,665
    
Total771,34892,926,702383
Table 5A Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption by County and Month, 2015 (Average)
Average consumption in litres per meter per day
CountyJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
Carlow389394406396389400384378369368358359382
Cavan.. .. 288289311328312318313311310311313
Clare369375386389378387385382360359354361374
Cork445440459452442442430429418412409405427
Donegal416377382361358360363355340344336341356
Dublin374376392383387398372378377371372376380
Dublin postal districts377376389387386393370367363358358356373
Galway.. .. 407389382394390394403420423425409
Kerry507426436440431442445433409407388398430
Kildare369372384377373378354359360357359366367
Kilkenny374382402396392410399385367355345350380
Laois433438457441434434415410398389390385418
Leitrim377384408391383384381379338324326336367
Limerick396396411405386380363361360351349352376
Longford.. .. .. .. .. 474421431420420419418424
Louth386385393380374383374376371372361365376
Mayo368366379375365366361353337333327330354
Meath378378390381377381357360356356356363369
Monaghan.. .. 366334325334335329331336327325332
Offaly413413428419411413406409408409407417413
Roscommon413414424418412421420414400410413428416
Sligo355354365358346347351356341334331335348
Tipperary426438461460446454441434419402394395430
Waterford.. .. .. .. 369393387381365357357367368
Westmeath414421436433422435415415412410401407418
Wexford329329340340330340342344315311315329330
Wicklow354365379375366380361368364358358356365
              
Total391388402396389396382382374370368371383
.. Not available
Table 5B Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption by County and Month, 2015 (Median)
Median consumption in litres per meter per day
CountyJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
Carlow246249256255248255241243246245244247248
Cavan.. .. 217215215217205214214212213216213
Clare223220229227220227225228215211207212220
Cork259257266263254255240249248246246251251
Donegal203191205207200207213210198197194198202
Dublin272274285277274280254260266263265272270
Dublin postal districts254254264256254259238241247245249252251
Galway.. .. 237248247254244245248247249251248
Kerry214214224225217227230234215211205215219
Kildare270273284276273278256261265261262268269
Kilkenny239242251250243254241244238236233238242
Laois265265277270265270257259260256258259264
Leitrim190187196199190196195199188184182194191
Limerick236239250246238238223226234233232236236
Longford.. .. .. .. .. 245233237232229228238233
Louth249252261255252257245248247245242249250
Mayo204203212212206208206209201198198205205
Meath277276287281276284263267271268269276274
Monaghan.. .. 242235230232222222221219222230226
Offaly268269279273270276265265262260260267268
Roscommon219219229229223231222226220218215224223
Sligo199200209206200200198208197196195196200
Tipperary238240249250242250240242238238234239242
Waterford.. .. .. .. 238250245253239235234240240
Westmeath245246254251245253243243244243239246246
Wexford210210220219213225222228210209206211215
Wicklow267269276271266272254258255253254260262
              
Total247248258253248253239243242241241246246
.. Not available
Table 5C Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption by County and Month, 2015 (Meters)
Number of meters
CountyJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
Carlow10,53210,52810,53110,51510,51610,51210,50410,50210,49610,48210,48010,47310,553
Cavan.. .. 2,0274,2288,66510,71010,65810,64510,67410,74910,72610,70310,871
Clare11,45515,83620,30722,62022,90322,98022,95822,94922,93922,95022,92822,93623,237
Cork30,62433,93838,42643,27647,51452,13256,57162,30367,41873,20576,89880,07380,853
Donegal7,1339,00810,83912,62514,42915,46415,65916,23516,47116,89817,60118,32018,614
Dublin41,73944,10247,62851,97553,32554,28555,42455,74655,94956,66457,11457,29857,481
Dublin postal districts109,798117,201121,230123,976126,596129,021131,417132,845133,767134,935135,640136,229136,733
Galway.. .. 1,6304,2799,44314,14618,91823,16426,29429,50532,64235,37935,666
Kerry25,57326,13126,18626,13826,10726,12826,08626,12926,13426,15026,19326,17826,560
Kildare39,61839,96940,22840,82940,83041,73143,38244,41145,48946,87749,20350,26350,531
Kilkenny11,73511,85611,89811,90111,90211,89611,88411,88611,88011,86511,86311,85011,961
Laois14,70014,79914,78414,89214,87414,86714,86214,84914,84814,83814,99415,57215,730
Leitrim6,4176,9627,5767,6597,6867,6787,6547,6497,6357,6227,6097,5867,772
Limerick30,10530,49330,46030,42430,39830,39630,36930,33730,33130,29430,26330,26030,611
Longford.. .. .. .. .. 3,1966,7828,2918,5618,7408,7678,7638,843
Louth18,76123,82325,49325,44425,45925,54725,59025,60725,61725,89625,88025,86926,132
Mayo18,51118,56218,70818,64718,68919,03619,26019,30819,60919,83320,15820,47020,836
Meath36,41436,93337,27937,35637,35837,34737,31137,29737,28437,28437,88938,03838,357
Monaghan.. .. 1,9666,6127,0347,1267,1217,1427,1737,2237,2247,2137,277
Offaly11,58512,34012,43112,43012,46312,49712,48912,48212,47512,47212,46512,52512,648
Roscommon10,39210,68010,74310,84311,13711,15811,37611,48711,61111,80911,98912,14012,406
Sligo12,89712,91712,92312,86612,85812,86112,82912,81612,80312,78812,78112,77212,995
Tipperary20,92123,78426,47328,85229,80529,81129,74129,70229,69129,64829,61529,60230,070
Waterford.. .. .. .. 2,1165,0237,97311,19113,56015,51716,29016,27316,362
Westmeath15,38115,60516,41716,77317,08417,07517,05817,05017,35317,33317,33017,55817,715
Wexford24,44424,55124,54924,46024,45124,39724,50624,56624,69124,65225,68927,75728,179
Wicklow11,04613,42316,48818,42119,90521,46021,55021,80222,08922,16422,17222,21922,355
              
Total519,781553,441587,220618,041643,547668,480689,932708,391722,842738,393752,403764,319771,348
.. Not available
Table 6A Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption by Dublin Postal District and Month, 2015 (Average)
Average consumption in litres per meter per day
Dublin Postal DistrictJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
Dublin 01.. .. 328293296302294279282294311295297
Dublin 02303310336283279274271276271265279264283
Dublin 03465412423421425425395388393397391391410
Dublin 04473456466486470484462449443440453433459
Dublin 05331329348350349350350343329322318321337
Dublin 06516510510501504509491478474455474455488
Dublin 06W326326338335348359340345339329330332338
Dublin 07318342361356359378361360347349338328351
Dublin 08444450423430465474477454423406394389433
Dublin 09344347367369362365339337338339338332348
Dublin 11383401422422421426409394387388378375401
Dublin 12359335329321310324310309305304305309314
Dublin 13467468474474475483470457400387390395444
Dublin 14372377387387393408376376376364367362379
Dublin 15361362375366358357333332339337337342350
Dublin 16374376389377379380350351342333331335357
Dublin 18424417439441430446411412409398399399415
Dublin 20293294307298302316297287276269265271290
Dublin 22415414433420418423391408411405462467423
              
Total377376389387386393370367363358358356373
.. Not available
Table 6B Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption by Dublin Postal District and Month, 2015 (Median)
Median consumption in litres per meter per day
Dublin Postal DistrictJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
Dublin 01....234204208228214206206217220211212
Dublin 02240243244215205200200203203197214187209
Dublin 03245244257250247252233235238238243242243
Dublin 04251253262251246255235232241243251245247
Dublin 05224224235229223228218215217216219226223
Dublin 06276276284270274276254249264257271261267
Dublin 06W244247256248245254234238242239243248245
Dublin 07222221232224221225211211216218217214219
Dublin 08217216226212216221207200205208214204211
Dublin 09228231241234230234217217223224224225227
Dublin 11245242255249245249235232236238238242242
Dublin 12215225227219213217203209203203204211211
Dublin 13257259272264258267248254253257256268259
Dublin 14254256264256253259236240246246249254251
Dublin 15280283294286283285259263275273276279278
Dublin 16276273282274272275248254258254259267264
Dublin 18292293302294292302268273283278283290286
Dublin 20224226237229231243220221224220220224226
Dublin 22259261270257252267235250244239238254252
              
Total254254264256254259238241247245249252251
.. Not available
Table 6C Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption by Dublin Postal District and Month, 2015 (Meters)
Number of meters
Dublin Postal DistrictJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecemberTotal
Dublin 01....116123124124124126132132132132133
Dublin 02196197210230241241240240240240241241244
Dublin 035,9936,1356,3796,6486,8526,9466,9716,9707,1157,1147,1317,1677,205
Dublin 045,8886,0416,0466,1296,2276,2756,3036,3066,3056,2976,3166,3406,384
Dublin 058,3688,4138,4228,4208,4418,4568,4358,4368,4408,4538,5258,5798,640
Dublin 065,4915,5805,5936,0126,3876,5266,5886,6716,6716,6786,6816,7526,786
Dublin 06W5,6176,2136,2626,5526,8706,9477,2047,2337,2327,2337,2687,2777,303
Dublin 077,4389,97110,35510,45310,65910,67410,72310,73310,73210,72510,73210,76910,814
Dublin 086076101,0741,0841,0901,0901,0901,0911,1631,2151,2321,2311,237
Dublin 0912,34812,57612,71012,69212,71812,72112,73912,77012,76912,76612,80312,80112,861
Dublin 113,8894,4414,4644,4674,4884,4904,5114,5114,5124,5124,5134,5144,522
Dublin 126151,1951,9922,0852,5222,6112,6962,7112,7142,9072,9183,0293,041
Dublin 133,0143,0253,0263,0193,0213,0513,1293,1293,1273,1143,1253,1243,153
Dublin 1410,56410,96711,21711,23511,29511,36611,39411,39811,39911,49111,51311,54911,573
Dublin 1526,50526,62426,62926,60626,63526,75026,81026,81226,81226,80926,82326,82026,888
Dublin 168,6199,2409,3019,7059,86310,69211,74512,33312,63413,29013,44013,62213,645
Dublin 181,2762,5984,0345,1175,7656,6627,3167,9768,3098,4918,7438,7638,774
Dublin 202,7372,7422,7422,7372,7372,7372,7372,7372,7992,7992,7992,8002,809
Dublin 22633633658662661662662662662669705719721
              
Total109,798117,201121,230123,976126,596129,021131,417132,845133,767134,935135,640136,229136,733
.. Not available
Table 7 Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption, 2014-2015
YearNumber of metersAverage daysTotal consumption (Cubic metres)Average (Litres per meter per day)Median (Litres per meter per day)
2014497,23813826,074,257381246
2015771,34831492,926,702383246

Background Notes

 Introduction

The data used to compile this release were received by the CSO from Irish Water in response to a request made under the Statistics Act, 1993.

Revisions

All figures are subject to revision. Water meters can store data for previous readings and they are typically read using drive-by technology. Not all meters may have been read for the full release period e.g. if the last data collection for an area was done during December then data for December will not be available until the meter is read again and the data are made available to the CSO. Revisions for any missing readings will be included in the next release e.g. meters with no December data.

Thresholds

Table 3 in the release examines the impact of using consumption thresholds to exclude data that are unusually high. These thresholds show the substantial impact that high usage has on the average consumption figures. Typically high consumption is due to a leak. The difference between the average and the median gives an indication of the extent of high consumption as the median is less influenced by the small number of meters with high consumption. In Table 3 the median is calculated based on all 2015 data for a meter whereas in Tables 1, 5B, 6B and 7 it is calculated from monthly data.

Coverage

The data used in this release only cover metered usage. Apartments, many group water schemes, and abstractions from wells are not included. The January 2015 data are based on 519,781 meters. By December this had increased to 771,348 meters. Data from meters which were installed during the year have been included provided a full month's data could be calculated from the meter readings.

Methodology

Irish Water provided monthly files of meter readings to the CSO. The files contained both meter readings and derived consumption data. The dates of the meter readings are generally from a date that is at the end of the month but readings can also occur on other days of the month and in some cases a meter may not have been read in a particular month.

In a small number of cases, a meter was read more than twice in a month. In these cases the CSO has used the first and last readings in a month to calculate monthly consumption.

Meter readings that were irregular in the series, e.g. readings lower than previous readings, have been excluded. Before excluding any readings, the CSO has examined in detail the series of readings for meters where there was a decrease of 100 cubic metres or more between two readings. The higher reading was excluded if it was the irregular reading in the series. Only usage figures for a full month have been included in this release e.g. a meter that was last read before the end of a data month is excluded for that month.

The CSO has converted the readings into monthly usage figures by allocating the difference in two readings proportionately between the dates that the meters were read. Months with partial data have been excluded e.g. if the last reading for a meter was during December, and there were no meter readings available yet from the following year, then that month was excluded. The first month's reading for every meter has been excluded as the CSO does not know the period covered by that reading - for the 2015 release many of these first months occurred in 2014.

Measurement units

The meter readings are in cubic metres. One cubic metre equals one thousand litres. The readings in cubic metres have been converted to average and median consumption in litres per meter per day. In Table 1, the data were converted into average and median consumption per meter per day in each month.

County data

There was a substantial meter installation programme during 2015. This did not happen concurrently in all counties. In a small number of cases, we have excluded all data for a county for a month because there were only a small number of meters installed e.g. county Cavan in January and February 2015. Similarly there were a relatively small number of meters installed in Dublin 17 and Dublin 24. The consumption levels in these two postal districts was considerably higher than elsewhere and considered to be not representative of all households in the two areas. Accordingly all data for 2015 for these two districts have not been used in the release.

upArrowHide Background Notes