In conjunction with the other three schools in our group we carried out a survey in Claremorris to elicit information on the following areas:
Information about the household
The use of water
The quality of water
Attitudes to drinking water
Out of the 100 questionnaires which were distributed only 76 were returned. We have collated the information the following are our findings:
Information about the household
As Claremorris is a small town situated in a rural area not surprisingly there are only 2 types of households surveyed - the majority, approximately two thirds, are private houses. Almost one third of the respondents live on farms.
The fact that in common with other small towns in the west of Ireland, Claremorris has a huge migration problem is reflected in the relatively low percentage of the population in the 1930 age group at 14%.
Eighty four percent of those surveyed live in either the countryside or in small villages.
The use of water
Public works supply water to 43% of respondents while 53% look to private servicing. This breakdown reflects the rural nature of the area.
There are no restrictions on the use of water in Ireland.
Eighty-eight percent of respondents do not have a water meter, and probably as a result no one knew how much water was being used per annum.
Sixty percent of water usage was for households and one third was for agricultural and household combined.
There are no water charges for consumers in Ireland.
According to the survey two thirds of the water is conducted to the soil after use, and one fifth is conducted to a lake. Almost one third of respondents did not know where the water was conducted to after treatment. Just over 20% said it was conducted to a river while 18% believed it was conducted to a lake.
The quality of water
Seventeen percent of those surveyed didn't know the source of the water, 55% said it came from ground water and 28% said it came from surface water.
Just over one third stated that they could not drink tap water without problems, of those with problems, one third boil the water before drinking it and almost one half filtrate it.
Forty-five percent of people found the taste of the water good, 32%t found it reasonable and 14% judged the taste bad.
Attitudes to drinking water
Almost half of those surveyed had heard from the media about the necessity to economise on the use of water.
While 70% thought that it was necessary to save water only 36% actually deliberately saved water at home, and even less 32% - saved water at work!
Only 12% save rainwater in barrels for supplementary use and only 4% have water-saving equipment installed.
All but 7% of perceived water usage is for the toilet and washing.
While 15% of respondents didn't know whether or not all kinds of fluids were poured down the cloak, 55% said they didn't pour indiscriminately in the cloak.
More than half 54% do not envisage a future clean drinking water problem in Claremorris
Thirty-six percent of respondents considered that Ireland has the best drinking water. Among the varied reasons cited were our perceived low rate of pollution and our high levels of rainfall.
