People are going mad for water butts ahead of first water charges bill

SALES OF WATER butts (don’t laugh) are sky-rocketing as we inch closer and closer to the first water charges bill.

That is, of course, if everything goes to plan for Government.

Water butts are a rudimentary rainfall collection device that can connects to a downpipe, collecting water which can then be used to water plants or wash cars.

More complicated systems of a larger capacity can be stored underground with a pump system.

Irish Water has been encouraging customers to install a water butt, or something similar, so that tending to your garden doesn’t impact on your water bill.

One retailer, Homevalue, saw sales of the devices increase by as much as 1,100% between June and September, compared to the same time last year, with a total of 5,579 water butts sold.

Waterford-based company Saving Water has reported a surge in demand for water butts over the past four months, and also general enquiries into the range of other measures available.

The volume of Google searches has also risen this year:

Source: Google Trends

Yesterday TheJournal.ie reported that there has been a massive increase in the number of people looking to install a private well.

Some companies are even reporting that they are fed up with the deluge of calls, as many people are in areas where it is not possible to drill a well.

“They don’t realise the can of worms they’re opening,” one said.

Read: A lot of people want to drill a private well before water charges come in… >

More: Galway County Council calls on Government to suspend water charges >