British householders must pay for tap supplies and the removal of sewage

BRITAIN:SOUTHERN WATER, one of the Britain's biggest water companies, is currently metering 500,000 homes in Hampshire and Kent in southern England at an average cost of £83 each (€100.70), and householders do not face a specific bill for the equipment.

One in four of the water company’s customers already had meters before it began its metering campaign in late 2010, but the privatised operation is bidding to have all bar those living in apartment blocks with communal heating systems linked up to meters by 2015.

Under British regulations, all houses built after 1989 have meters fitted automatically, while water companies often fit meters when they hear of properties being sold.

In the UK, householders pay for the supply of water and the removal of waste-water, including sewage.

Consumption drops by 10 per cent on average once meters are introduced: “It amounts to about 18 million litres every day, enough to supply a town the size of Winchester in Hampshire,” said company official Joel Hufford. A standing charge for water and sewage customers of £80 is applied.

In Southern Water’s case, the savings are high enough to offer the company enough breathing room for 20 years ahead with its existing network of reservoirs, despite the rapidly rising population in the southeast of England.

The water regulator, Ofwat, which has approved a 5 per cent rise in prices this years, said metering is particularly useful in tracking down leaks that take place between the main supply pipes and homes, which account for a quarter of leaks.

Water companies have been criticised for years about the scale of wastage, although they counter that they have invested billions since privatisation during the Thatcher era to modernise a system that had largely remained undeveloped since Victorian times.

The companies are in the process of spending £22 billion by 2015 – more than £935 for every property in England and Wales, which Ofwat says will “deliver benefits to us all – from continuing to improve reliability of supplies to cleaner rivers and beaches”.

Metering is favoured by companies in the southern half of England, which is traditionally drier – though the situation is now bordering on critical in many districts following the second dry winter in a row, which has left many aquifers dangerously low.

Just a fifth of homes in the wetter north of England are metered, said Ofwat.

Prices vary significantly between the firms. Anglian Water in eastern England charges £189 for water and £234 to deal with sewage, while South West Water charges £228 for water and £315 for sewage. Wessex Water is equally expensive, charging £234 for water and £221 to deal with waste-water.