Hotels to drill for water

Date Published: 26-Jun-2009

FOURTEEN hotels in the city are actively in the process of boring their own wells so as to avoid what they say are the crippling water charges being charged by the City Council.

Hoteliers say the fact that charges have practically tripled in the past 12 months and now stand at almost €100,000 for many of the city’s top hotels has made self-sufficiency in water a priority.

President of the Irish Hotels Federation, Paul Gill, said he knew of 14 hoteliers who were now in the process of signing contracts for the drilling of a well on their own grounds.

While Mr Gill did not wish to identify the individual hotels involved, some, such as the Ardilaun on Taylor’s Hill, have indicated they are considering the possibility of drilling for their own water.

Mr Gill said the fact that it only costs about €5,000 to bore a well and that bringing the water up to European standards is also relatively inexpensive had made the idea attractive to owners.

“The savings that are to be made are significant. I know of…