the cost of water – single renters are paying the bulk

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household, ireland water charges, person household, single, singleton, taxes, water, water charges, water tax, water taxes

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.

 

losing time and water

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Dublin, Dublin City Council, hot water bottle, inner clock, miscellaneous, photo, poet w h auden, quotes, random, summer mode, summer-time, thoughts, W.H.Auden, water

Tonight the clocks are jumping forward and we are all losing an hour of precious time.  And while I know we will get it back in October I do wonder where the hour goes in the meantime.

Does it take a break and relax for half a year or does it wander around the equator wondering what do to with its time? Or maybe this lost hour hoovers near us and makes things we don’t like seem longer. But where ever it goes I know I’ll be missing it tomorrow when I have an hour less sleep and a week ahead of me trying to get my inner clock adjust to the one on my wall.

But at the very least our time will be in summer mode unlike our weather that has decided to stay wintery for a little while longer. But the promise of our clocks will hopefully soon be fulfilled and the sun will be shining down on us in full force.

The other thing that I have been losing over the past few nights is water. While we have had lots of rain, sleet and even some smatterings of snow Dublin’s water reserves seem to be at an all time low. To counteract this issue Dublin City Council has been turning the water off over night, leaving me standing  in front of empty taps and waterless kettles.

Why DCC has decided to limit the flow of water over Easter is beyond me but every night at 10pm my tap runs dry and my hot water bottle stays cold and leaving my glass more tan half empty.  So tonight I will try and stay on top of my watery needs and fill a bowl or two. After all as the wonderful poet  W.H.Auden  once said:

Thousands have lived without love, not one without water

My tap is still lowing over … for now

bottled light

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a liter of life, Alfredo Moser, alternative energy, bottle bulbs, environment, nature, Philipines, quotes, Sao paulo, solar bulb, Solar power, water

Photo courtesy of ALiterofLight.org

Living in our westernised world we often forget how many luxuries we take for granted every single day. We turn on a tap and hot or clod water comes pouring out, clean and ready to be used. We open the fridge and our pint of milk is fresh and cool, waiting to enrich our cup of tea. We flick a switch and a light-bulb illuminates our home, light flooding through darkness, helping us see.

I was reminded of the these luxury yesterday evening when for a little while the power went out. Due to the winds or because of some fault, for one hour I sat in the flickering light of candles and the fire in the hearth.

Of course the lights went out in the most inopportune moment, I was in the bathroom, doing what one does. I went downstairs to see if it was only a blown fuse, a candle stick in hand like Wee Willy Winkle, but it turned out to be the entire street.

I lit more candles and decided to make a cup of tea, but just as I was about to flick the switch I realised what a silly idea that was, after all my kettle is electric. Instead I poured myself a glass of wine and while I watched the flames dance in the fire place I remembered something I had heard about a little while ago.

In 2002 a mechanic in Sao Paulo came up with a brilliant idea, of how to light up a home without a light-bulb but by using the natural light from the sun. Alfredo Moser  took a one liter plastic bottle and filled it with a mixture of water and some bleach (to prevent algae from forming), sealed it and after cutting a hole into his tin-roof placed the bottle into the hole (cap up) and sealed the bottle in. As soon as the sunlight hit the water in the bottle it fractured and flooded his work-shop with light. And thus the solar bulb was invented.

These solar bottles give about the same amount of light as a 50-60 watt bulb but they don’t costa penny, only a bit of recycling and a dash of household cleaner. Student’s from M.I.T have now perfected the system and it has spread around the globe, bringing free light to the poor and changing peoples lives. Currently a tiny Filipino organisation, called My Shelter Foundation, is the poster child of the solar bottle as it has put bottle bulbs into tens of thousands of homes, aiming for a million. Their project is called Isang Litrong Liwanag (A Liter of Light), a truly illuminating and brilliant cause.

As Ella Baker, the wonderful African-American human rights activist once said:

Give light and people will find their way

Watch this wonderful ad for The Liter For Life project:   Solar Power Philippines

Shower and Glory

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bath, bathrobe, bathroom, experience, experiences, glories, glory, hot water, pleasure, savor, savour, savouring, shower, showers, tub, water

I am bath girl. I love lingering in a tub filled to the brim with hot fragranced water, letting my limbs relax while reading, listing to music or even enjoying a glass of red. Sadly lingering gloriously in the bath is no longer a possibility as my tiny home has no room for a tub (well it could if I gave up the washing machine and dryer). So now instead of the glories of a bath I have the hot rain of a shower.

I know many people love showers and I admit that standing in a tiny glass room being pelted by hot splashes of water can have its appeal still, it is not the same as a bath. But with no other option I have learned to enjoy what my minute bathroom has to offer, it is all in the preparation I have discovered.

There is nothing worse than running out of hot water with your head full of suds dripping stingingly into your eyes, while your naked, wet body starts to get cold. Even worse if you have just started shaving your legs and you now have to either brace yourself and shave in the cold or run around all day with one pristine leg and one cactus-like limb, hoping no one notices. Not a good way to start any day, but especially bad on a Monday morning. To avoid this day wrecking experience I always make sure my boiler is filled to the brim with steaming water.

The next step is to pick a CD and turn the music up, I am nowhere as talented as in the shower. I sing like a goddess and dance like a nymph, and all to my own entertainment. Then I place my bathrobe (a big, fluffy, cosy blue monster that dries and cuddles in one) in the perfect position to grab and slip into as soon as I step out of the hot, steaming waterfall. I also always ensure that I have an extra towel ready for my hair. I hate those cold wet dribbles of water that splash down your neck or cleavage from the tendrils of your hair making you shiver. And finally I have my green IKEA slippers ready and waiting, not only do they dry my feet as I walk around they also keep me from having to step onto those cold tiles on the floor.

Some of you may think that this is a lot of preparation for a mundane, daily task but studies have shown that savouring things has a positive effect on us and our well-being. And the best way to savour anything is to make the pleasurable experience last, with no distractions and by being completely in the moment. So by making a shower be exactly the way I want it, I am actually savouring the task of cleanliness, providing myself with a uplifting start to the day.

So, heres to the glories of a shower and making enjoyable moments last

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-good-life/200906/what-do-you-think-about-in-the-shower