Environment Agency pleads for end to dumb meter installation

The Environment Agency has called on water companies to stop installing dumb meters altogether and instead to replace the current meter stock with smart meters and to roll smart meters out “more quickly than currently planned”.

That was among the messages in the Agency’s summary of the draft regional and Water Resource Management Plans(WRMPs). It called the plans a “critical step to ensuring that the nation has secure, sustainable water supplies that protect and enhance the environment” but added: “There remains significant more work to do to fully achieve this. In some cases, faster delivery of planned abstraction reductions is needed. The water industry needs to ensure appropriate consistency between water company and regional plans. The plans require further refinement and improvement to meet guidelines, legal requirements, and our expectations."

The watchdog specified actions under demand reduction and new supply.

Demand reduction

The draft plans would deliver a 17% reduction in water use per person by 2037-38, not the 20% required. Moreover, the draft plans would only deliver a 1.8% reduction by 2037-38 in non-household consumption, not the 9% required. The agency told companies to set out how they plan to meet the targets in their updated plans, and expressed concern about the deliverability of demand reductions. It argued: ”Delivery risks needs to be well considered and mitigated by water companies as they finalise plans.”

New supply

The draft WRMPs contain proposals by 2050 for multiple new schemes supplying 10Ml/d or more including: nine new desalination schemes; nine new reservoirs; 11 new water recycling schemes; and multiple new internal and inter-company transfers to share resources. However, the EA noted some plans had only identified limited options and that all schemes should delver best value. “We expect further exploration of options as plans progress to enable choices.”

While the headline shortfall is 4,000 Ml of water a day by 2050, the Agency pointed out: “Some customers are already facing issues. In parts of Sussex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk, housing and business growth have been impacted, as there isn’t enough water without further abstraction that would risk environmental damage. We also have concerns following recent droughts that some water companies are less resilient than expected."