A LEAK which has seen millions of gallons of water going down the drain over a period of seven years has provided the answer to why Shannon man, Pat Madden’s new water meter was telling him he had used 1.6 million litres in less than two months.
The water meter installed in his home home clocked his water usage as being equal to flushing the loo 1,069 times a day or taking a bath 26 times a day.
But on Wednesday, a crew from Irish Water dug until they found the cause of the problem – a badly leaking pipe in a corner of the garden
Taxi driver Pat Madden was astonished to discover that his meter showed he had used more than 1.5 million litres of water in the 79 days after it was installed – the equivalent, given the amount of water contained in a standard cistern, of flushing the toilet every 79 seconds.
Mr Madden said that 19 days after the meter was installed, he checked the reading . “I was shocked – according to the meter, I had used 372,000 gallons of water. It was ticking so fast it sounded like a bomb”.
Pat, who lives alone, took a test reading at 11am on November 26 and another one at 5pm that day.
“It recorded that I had used 5,000 liters of water in that space of time – which was extraordinary, considering I wasn’t even at home.”
After turning off the water going into the meter to see if it was working and establishing that it was, Mr Madden sealed off the water coming into his house. “But the thing kept registering water going through.
“I never wanted this meter installed in the first place. I don’t mind paying for clean water but you can’t even drink the stuff coming out of the taps in Shannon – it smells like Parazone. I filter it twice before I use it for tea or cooking and I drink bottled water”.
Withe the leak located and promptly repaired, Mr Madden said that “to be fair, if the water meter had not been installed I would still know nothing about a serious leak. I would advise people to check their use regularly after they have meters installed and question it if it’s excessive”.
