Domestic Metered Public Water Consumption 2020

Statistician's Comment

Linh Nolan, Statistician in the Environment and Climate Division of the Central Statistics Office (CSO), said:

"The average monthly consumption of water per meter per day in 2020 was 379 litres which was 7% higher than the 2019 figure of 355 litres (see Table A and Figure 1).

In 2020, the average consumption per month was highest in April and May at 397 and 418 litres per meter per day, respectively. The lowest average consumption was in January at 354 litres per meter per day (see Table 1).

The highest decile, or 10% of metered households, accounted for 34% of total water consumption and had an average consumption of 1,302 litres per meter per day in 2020 (see Figure 2 and Table 2). The average for this decile has decreased by 21% from 1,652 litres per meter per day in 2015.

Median and Average Consumption Rates

The median consumption of water per meter per day in 2020 of 284 litres was 11% higher than in 2019 (see Table A and Figure 1). Similar to the trend for average consumption, the monthly median was lowest in January at 257 litres per meter per day and highest in May at 319 litres per meter per day (see Table 1). Median, or mid-point, consumption reflects typical levels of consumption more than average consumption as the median is less affected by meters with very high levels of water consumption due to leaks.

County Breakdowns

Table 3A shows the average monthly consumption of water per meter per day by county. Donegal had the lowest average consumption in 2020 at 334 litres compared with Laois which had the highest annual average of 429 litres. The corresponding medians are given in Table 3B. Meath had the highest median consumption in 2020 with 323 litres per meter per day while Leitrim had the lowest at 237 litres per meter per day.

Table 4A shows the average monthly consumption of water per meter per day by Dublin postal district. Dublin 20 had the lowest average consumption at 308 litres per meter per day in 2020. Median consumption rates for the Dublin postal districts are provided in Table 4B.

Table 5A shows the annual average metered consumption for 2016 to 2020. All counties had a higher average consumption in 2020 compared with 2019. Table 6A shows that nearly all Dublin postal districts used more water on average in 2020 than in 2019."