WHICH INDUSTRIES AND companies are Ireland’s biggest users of water?
These industries, covering different sections of the economy, take water from rivers and lakes to power their own processes and work, but it can be controversial given environmental concerns on the impact towards the water bodies.
Last year, this information on Ireland’s industrial-level use of water became publicly available for the first time.
The register contains information on water abstractions of 25 cubic meters (25,000 litres) or more per day that have been registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
It was released to transparency campaigners Right to Know after a lengthy battle to secure the register of companies held by the EPA.
For our SOAKED UP project into water abstraction, Noteworthy conducted an in-depth analysis of this register to discover the biggest users of water in Ireland.
This register covers the process of water abstraction, where water is pumped or diverted from a natural resource for an industrial process.
However, abstraction needs to be carefully managed and have proper oversight to ensure it does not overstep the mark and harm the environment, Coast Watch Ireland told Noteworthy.
The environmental group wants to see a “climate change review” take place to ensure licenses permitting the use of large quantities of water are still applicable where they have been granted by the EPA, adding that there are concerns over potential damage to the water supply.
Data related to water abstraction can be a surprisingly tricky issue for some industries. The Journal has previously reported on the pressure the EPA has come under from the Department of Agriculture, so that it would not reveal the information it has on farms that abstract industrial quantities of water.
But agriculture is easily outpaced by other industries when looking at the full register.
Noteworthy, the crowdfunded community-led investigative platform from The Journal, supports independent and impactful public interest journalism.
What dominates, taking up 88% of abstraction across the country, is Ireland’s hydropower industry. These use vast volumes of water for their processes, with twice as much water abstracted annually for Ardnacrusha Power Station as the next biggest abstraction point.
A previous investigation into hydropower by Noteworthy reported that experts were concerned about the ESB “being given free pass” to divert water without ecological assessments.
This issue was raised by An Taisce last year because the new law dealing with water diversion, enacted in December 2022, does not require environmental impact assessments for hydropower licences.
In total hydropower abstracts 30,060 million cubic metres each year.
One of the major abstraction companies in the hydropower sector is Wilmoor Holdings Limited in Co Offaly. It’s been owned for the past 32 years of its existence by the Stewart family, a fourth generation Roscommon family of business people with multiple interests.
The company’s station on the River Shannon abstracts 302.75 million cubic metres of water each year.
The family traces its start in business back to 1885 when Hugh Stewart took over the operation of a mill in the town of Boyle.
Hydroelectric companies which members of the family help oversee appear elsewhere in the register – Stewart Energies Limited, formed in 2008, uses 259,200 cubic meters each year from its base in Boyle.
When we take hydropower out of the equation, an interesting picture emerges.
Water is next abstracted most by businesses classed as ‘industrial’; this includes the likes of pharmaceutical companies, distilleries and food nutrition plants.
In total the industrial category accounts for 7.9% of all abstractions, or 2,685 million cubic metres each year. Next is drinking water abstractions at 2.9% each year.
The remaining categories all come in at less than a percent:
Agriculture by comparison takes up just 0.04% of all abstractions registered each year – coming in at 13 million cubic metres. However, its entries have all been redacted by the EPA due to an agreement brokered by the Department of Agriculture.
The data also shows that counties Dublin, Cork and Cavan see the most abstraction for agriculture.
In our interactive table below, you can search to see what is the case for each county. As the exact details for each agriculture entry has been redacted by the EPA, that sector is not included.
The findings are based on removing all Group Water Scheme Supplies from the register and entries from Irish Water.
In Dublin, the industrial category dominates for water use with 739.9 million cubic metres of water diverted from natural sources each year – some 96% of the total abstracted in the capital.
Some of the main uses in this category included the waste management industry.
Mining and quarrying was next at 11,000 cubic metres of water, or 1.4%.
In the below graphic, you can see the multitude of abstraction points mapped.
It also shows how abstraction points often cross over with Special Areas of Conservation. The habitats are often more sensitive in these areas and receive legal protection to protect their local environment.
This is among the concerns for Coast Watch according to its national coordinator Karin Dubsky.
She said “pressure” is placed on each water body and habitat when abstracting water in hot weather as water levels may be low. What adds to the concern is that ‘cooling water’ is discharged in certain industries, risking raising the temperature of the water body for marine life.
“We urgently need a climate change review of all industrial licenses involving water abstraction and cooling water discharges,” the marine ecologist said. She added:
“Licenses need to include water level and temperature thresholds, above which abstraction and cooling water discharge have to stop.
“In some cases it might still be possible to abstract, but instead of discharging cooling water, they steam it off. This is already incorporated in licenses in many other countries, including the Elbe estuary in Czech Republic for example.”
Who are the biggest users of water in Ireland?
Reporter: Eoghan Dalton • Data Visualisation: Alice Chambers
Noteworthy is the crowdfunded investigative journalism platform from The Journal. This analysis was only possible due to support from our investigative fund. Please consider contributing here:
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