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For years Irish households have been paying a tax for water and waste but now the Government has decided that is not enough and has created a new water and waste tax per household.

The discussion about this new water tax has been in and out of the media over the last few years but in five months time, when 2014 turns to 2015, it will become reality.

Today figures were released on what water will now cost and of course it is about 20% more than the Government said it would be back in April, steep inflation if you ask me.

A single household will now be paying a yearly fee of €176, about €14.67 a month, to use the tap to wash, flush and drink. This breaks down to about half a cent per liter ,you use about ten to just flush the toilet, when calculated on an average usage of 52,000 liters per single household a year.

What is surprising however is that it isn’t calculated per person as a two person household cost €278, just €102 more. Why that is is unclear, as two people, generally speaking shower twice, flush twice, have twice the amount of washing, drink twice a s much and have twice as many dishes. So why isn’t it double the cost, why do singles pay €76 more?

Children go free, as the Government says they will cover their costs, but that money is really only coming from the taxes, meaning the extra €76 paid by single occupants. Of course the cost for children is probably calculated into the €102 paid to cover any additional adult in a household, but it is clearly not nearly as much as the singles are paying extra.

Occupants do have the option to install meters, this means they will be charged on a consumption-basis.  But for many areas  this isn’t easily done, due to old  pluming and architectural issues, and most landlords won’t want to spend the cost of installing them into homes they are not living in.

This means that if you are a singleton who rents you will be paying nearly 70% more a year just to use the tap.

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