Water meters start roll-out in thousands of homes

The firm will install approximately 12,000 meters in the district between now and April 2011, and a further 48,000 in the district and surrounding areas by April 2012.

Over the next five years nearly 500,000 meters will be installed across the South East. As households move to metered charges about half will see their water bills go down and half will see an increase.

People on a meter generally use about 10 per cent less water that those who pay a fixed charge.

Southern Water says that metering is essential to ensure the long-term security of water supplies for customers in Horsham and the rest of the region.

The South East is classified as an area of serious water stress which means there is a delicate balance between the water available for supply and the projected demand for water. The Southern Water region is the third most water stressed area according to the Environment Agency and the North Sussex zone is the most stressed across its region.

Following a pilot earlier this month the company is now beginning the main programme with street by street installations in the district.

It is using AMR meters which are ‘intelligent’ meters that store information about water usage. They have developed and incorporated the latest automated meter reading technology, allowing a ‘drive-by’ solution to read the meters remotely - enabling as many as 20,000 readings a day as against 200 at present.

The new meters include a ‘leak alarm’ to help find leaks more easily on household supply pipes.

These leaks are the responsibility of the householder but to help everyone save water, Southern Water will fix up to three external leaks free of charge.

The company is also working with a charity called Groundwork who will help it provide information to customers on the day of their meter installation.

Southern will be offering two tariffs to help customers who see an increase in their bills on a water meter.

A Changeover Tariff, which will be open to everyone who sees their bills go up on metered charges.

Customers can opt on to this tariff and the increases will then be introduced gradually over three years.

Secondly Southern will introduce a Support Tariff, which is for customers who see an increase in their metered bills and genuinely cannot afford to pay.

These customers will have a Home Saver Check, which is a water and energy audit in their home with advice on saving water and energy and the fitting of free water saving devices.

The customer is then offered a free financial review by an independent company which will decide if the customer is eligible for the Support Tariff.

If moved on to the Support Tariff, the customer’s bill will be capped at the equivalent of their rateable value bill before they moved on to a water meter.

To find out more call 0333 2003 011.