I woke up at 8:30 in the morning on the first day of staying at the Kilronan Hotel which was located in Inis Mór to find that there was no running water. I tried both faucets to see but for some reason the water was indeed off. The receptionist at the hostel did say “The water would be turned off at 7pm and will be back on at 7 am.”. I thought to myself how can they live like that? However, I was irritated because I was made to believe we would have water in the morning but they didn’t follow through with their word. This whole predicament came about because of the island’s water shortage as there was no rain for two months to my amazement.
I was angry that there was no running water from 7pm to 7am but I could understand where the locals were coming from because they could not be sure of the next time it would rain. They had to conserve and only use what they needed which was the gist for most of the trip with any type of resource they used. However, in my opinion it was great that we only stayed there for a short period of time because I would’ve been miserable living like that.
After realizing the huge emphasis on conserving I decided to read up on the importance of water in Ireland. This prompted me to find out the problem with water was not only the amount but how clean and healthy it was as well. I found out that every house built in Ireland before 1980 used lead plumbing which is a severe dilemma. The lead seeps into the water contaminating it and affecting the consumer especially if they are infants or women who are pregnant. The lead makes the water toxic and it slowly kills brain cells causing damage to the brain. The Irish Government have taken the initiative to combat this problem. The program involves monitoring the lead in drinking water by informing residents and offering to replace the plumbing with the grant scheme the government has put into place. The Irish Water company has also developed mitigation and produce water while also distributing it to residents across the country. They currently treat 1.7 billion liters of drinking water every single day which is quite remarkable in my opinion. I really can appreciate the emphasis on combating this huge problem they have while still trying to conserve as well.