WHILE managing to grab headlines and tax the minds of politicians, water remains a resource that is taken for granted by much of the electorate. Unusually dry weather in January and March this week led to Dublin Corporation making one of its periodic calls for conservation.

Experts say that unless householders increase their awareness, the water pressure in certain areas will have to be reduced for extended periods. Past evidence suggests this call is destined to fall on deaf, but presumably well scrubbed, ears.

According to a study published last year, Irish people use 55 gallons (247 litres) of treated water each day, a figure that excludes the 40 per cent of water lost through leaky pipes.

While we stand tap to dripping tap with the UK in this regard, the average continental European consumption is only 35 gallons (157 litres) per person per day. The difference is astounding when one considers the climatic considerations that place more immediate demands on the water supply of continental countries.

Difficult as it may be for us to admit, the evidence suggests we are a nation of water wasters. With our taps running and our garden hoses flowing we could not be further removed in attitude from our German counterparts who go to the trouble of installing specially designed flushing mechanisms on their toilets to cut water waste.

Germany has one of the lowest levels of water consumption on the Continent. There, water-wise consumers are regularly bombarded with stickers, posters and leaflets which encourage a healthy respect for the resource.

"More and more people in Germany are becoming aware that water is a precious part of our lives," says Mr Mattias Tang of the Green Party in Berlin. "We believe that the price of water should be raised and the surplus spent on reducing water pollution."

Residents in Copenhagen in Denmark - which at 134 litres per head per day has the lowest consumption in Europe - are confident their water usage can be cut by a quarter by the year 2000.

So what is behind the conscious decision of many on mainland Europe to take showers (36 litres) instead of baths (136 litres) and engage in other water-saving activities? The reasons are not entirely financially motivated, but the fact that most of northern Europe pays for each drop of water used does come into the aquatic equation.

When experimental water meters were introduced to a dubious Isle of Wight population in 1992 the water consumption level fell by 22 per cent. A similar pattern emerges wherever meters are introduced. They exist in many European countries including Germany, France, Denmark and Sweden. But even in regions where metering is not in place there seems to be a heightened awareness of conservation.

FOR example in Norway, despite a flat water rate of 1,000 Norwegian krone (£110) per annum, and a seemingly never-ending supply of fresh water, the consumption level is still far lower than in the Republic. Across Europe, it is common practice to install water saving devices on taps and showers while toilets that use less water are favoured over conventional ones.

Closer to home, the consumption level tallies with our own.

Meter users in England and Wales account for only 10.5 per cent of all domestic customers. In Scotland, as in Northern Ireland, the water bills are incorporated into local taxes and users are not given the option of having meters installed.

The biggest culprit when it comes to water wastage here, according to a Dublin Corporation spokesman, is the hose pipe user. Almost as bad is the person who lets the tap run while brushing their teeth, washing their hands or doing the dishes.

In the past when councils introduced water conservation campaigns in an attempt to highlight eco-unfriendly habits they were not taken as seriously as they would have hoped. Media pundits and the general public sniggered when, almost inevitably, it would pour with rain the day after the start of the campaign.

As Deputy City Engineer, Mr Maurice O'Connell says: "There have been times when we have called for water to be used sparingly and sure enough it rains. People automatically assume that there is no need to worry."

The general perception was that the problem had been solved. We kept our taps running and conveniently forgot that the rain had to be treated and distributed through a leaky, 50-year old network before it ended up at our kitchen sinks.

THE reasons for this nonchalant attitude to water are as varied as the ways Irish consumers daily splash the valuable commodity around. According to Mr Tom Leahy, divisional engineer at Dublin Corporation's water department, the lack of investment in our system in the past has resulted in the current neglect.

"For a long time it was left to local government to resource the system, a task that given the scale of the operation was just impossible," he says. "Last year the decision was made to channel central government, and EU funding into the system.

Mr Leahy hopes that when the benefits of a £32 million water conservation project become apparent in two years' time the public tide may turn in favour of more water-aware measures. In addition, he maintains that if customers had more problems with supply they would appreciate how important it was to conserve it.

"Never having experienced pressure reduction or an interruption in water supply means that the issue does not impact on you the same way as a person who has had serious problems with water," he says.

The fact that traditionally Irish water has come without the price tag of electricity or gas appears to have removed any of the guilt normally associated with wastage.

Water consumption in the Dublin area has quadrupled in the last 50 years. In the future, increased industrial demand coupled with a rising population are set to conspire to put yet further strain on the State system. To ration demand, to bring us into line with best practice in the rest of Europe may yet mean the introduction of water meters.

There could yet be a very real price to pay for continuing to let our cups run over.