Sustainable Water Supply in Ireland

Sustainable water technology is concerned with the complete range of technologies, techniques, products and processes that will enable humankind to reduce the impact of water production and water consumption on the environment and to establish a more sustainable mode of development. The concept of sustainable development has gained wide usage over the past 15 years in an attempt to balance development needs and environmental protection. The Brundtland Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (1987) identified sustainable development as a global objective, which involved economic, social and environmental values. It defined sustainable development as ‘ development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. Sustainable development of water resources involves considerations of population growth, urbanisation, industrialisation, land use practices, climate change and water recycling. As these factors are constantly changing, both in themselves and with respect to each other, any consideration of sustainable water resource management must take a short term and a long term view. To facilitate discussion of sustainable water resource management the following structure will be adapted: Quantification of Renewable resources. Water Quality Protection. Conservation by the producer/consumer (economy in use0. Product substitution/Recycling. Integrated water management systems.