One of the mid-west region’s best known primary schools has moved to reduce its annual water and sewer charges by installing waterless urinal systems.

The Model School in Limerick City invested in the systems, installed by BR Waterless Solution, to offset the scale of metered water charges that were introduced for all schools and educational centres in January. 

The announcement in 2007 of the introduction of Smart electricity metering led to widespread hope that Ireland could set a global example by empowering consumers to cut electricity use and generate their own renewable electricity. John Hearne investigates current progress on the initiative, and discovers signs that Ireland’s approach to smart metering could represent a missed opportunity.