Water bills set to soar under compulsory meters[UK]

The Telegraph ^ | 23 July 2008 | Jon Swaine

[BGHater]

One in ten households in England and Wales will fall into "water poverty" under plans to introduce meters for every home in Britain, a consumer group has warned.

Millions of families, already suffering from rising food and fuel costs, face soaring bills, with some left up to £200 a year worse off by the Government plans, according to The Consumer Council for Water.

Currently water companies can introduce "pay as you flow" meters in areas that are at a high risk of drought. The Government had long-term plans to introduce them into other areas by 2030.

However a Government report into water conservation has claimed there is a "good case" for compulsory metering, and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs wants to extend them across the country as standard.

It said: "There is now a good case for examining the costs and benefits of metering outside areas of serious water stress."

Ministers say that droughts will become ever-more likely unless people start to use less water, and that they will be encouraged to do so if they pay for what they use. Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said: "We must find efficient ways to save not only water but also the energy needed to pump, treat and heat it."

Ofwat, the power industry watchdog, has estimated that average bills will be substantially higher under the plans, rising up to 300 per cent depending on region.

A spokesman for The Consumer Council for Water said: "There is no sufficient Government safety net to protect people who cannot afford to pay for their water."

[AnalogReigns]

Hmmmm, so this means many (if not most) Britons on public water do NOT have meters now?

I spent a month there on an English cross-cultural class in college. As far as their standard of living goes, I was not impressed. Seemed like almost a 2nd world country.

[calex59]

Another country bordering the ocean that allows greenies to dictate they can’t have nuclear desalinization plants. There is no country with an ocean on its border that should ever suffer drought. When will people start throwing the idiots out of government.

[johnnycap]

I thought everybody had water meters...and here they are giving the sh*t away in Europe!!

[DallasDeb]

Just because they don’t have meters doesn’t mean they are getting it free. They may have flat rates that they charge for water service.

[Koblenz]

Metering seems to make much more sense: pay for what you use. No meters means that people that waste water are subsidized by those that don’t.

[Winniesboy]

Precisely. At the moment in the U.K. there’s a flat rate which simply encourages wastage.

[Winniesboy]

Nuclear desalinization is a non-issue here (in Britain) because there is an abundant supply. The problem is one of distribution rather than supply, since the high natural rainfall areas (mainly north and west) don’t correspond with the main population centres (mainly south and east). Hence the calls for a national water grid, similar to the existing national power grid.