Cost of #boilwaternotice in Dublin
3 days of #boildwaternotice affecting the Greater Dublin Area, including parts of Kildare and Dunboyne in Co. Meath meant that over 600.000 people had to boil the drinking water used also for washing vegetables, brushing their teeth, etc. Boiling resulted in over-using kettles, hence higher electricity costs or buying bottled water from stores.
On a short calculation if 600.000 people bought 2 litres of drinking water/ 3 days the grocery bill would total:
And the electricity cost of boiling water:
Additional costs are also encountered by restaurants & coffee shops in such occasions. Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, said to Independent newspaper that restaurants previously providing tap water to customers had to buy it now so the cost could go up to 500 euros/week/restaurant. As for coffee shops, they had to pre-boil water – so extra costs for using electricity – because some machine don’t use regularly water up to boiling point to make coffee ( at least to 75 degrees as per The Food Safety Authority).
Now Irish Water will appear before the Oireachtas Housing Committee on November 5 to explain the events as 600.000 were left without proper tap water. Irish Water communicated the notice and lifting it by Twitter and apologised to the households and businesses.
