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MAKE IT COMPULSORY!

Rob Westcott* explains why the Environment Agency believes that all homes should be metered - and the sooner the better.

Compulsory water metering - do we need it? To be honest, we have moved beyond this circular debate. There is already less water per person in many parts of the UK than in most Mediterranean countries. Our population is increasing, more houses are being built and we are all using more water. It means water resources in many areas, such as the south east and east of England, are already stretched, or 'stressed' - and climate change will only add to these pressures.

It is also an inconvenient truth in the global warming debate that reducing our carbon footprint will help limit further destabilisation of the climate in the second half of the century. But we also need to learn to live with the impacts of climate change that are already with us and cannot be reversed quickly.  For all these reasons, compulsory water metering is needed sooner rather than later.  It is, after all, only a year since, following two years of below average rainfall in 2005 and 2006, the south east experienced one of its worst droughts for 100 years.

We welcome the Government's recent direction to water companies in seriously water-stressed areas to assess compulsory metering in their plans and, where cost-effective, to introduce it from 2010. This is a major step forward in managing the nation's precious water resources.

But the before 2030 timescale for introducing universal metering in water stressed areas proposed in Defra's new strategy for England, Future Water, does not convey the necessary urgency. We want to see the majority of households in areas where water is most scarce to be metered by 2015. We do appreciate, however, that because of the sheer number of meters that need to be fitted, some companies may not be able to achieve this until 2020.

Why? Well, the truth is the evidence is very consistent. Metering cuts consumption by up to 15 percent and is by far the fairest way to pay. Metering - smart metering in particular - is also an opportunity to make billing more informative, so customers understand better how they are using water and what opportunities they have to reduce their demand.  

The newly-published, Defra-commissioned, pilot study into water affordability in the south west shows metering gives people an incentive to save water, which means existing supplies can stretch further. By reducing the amount of treated and hot water being used, energy is saved and emissions are cut.  Incredibly, heating water accounts for one quarter of all domestic energy use in the UK. 

The Environment Agency has always called for a charging structure that will provide incentives to save water while protecting vulnerable customers. But, we are continuing to investigate a number of areas to inform further our position.

Among several other studies, we are conducting currently a joint project with the Greater London Authority and Thames Water to assess the social effects of different methods of charging for water in London. We are also looking at what we can learn from smart metering initiatives in the energy sector, and whether there is a scope to join forces and to develop protocols enabling water and energy industries to use the same networks. 

It may be that new policies and mechanisms are required to ensure vulnerable households are protected adequately - though paying by volume may well reduce water affordability issues for many people.

But metering should not be seen as a stand-alone solution to all our water supply issues - rather it is central to all demand management activities. It creates a better understanding of water use and allows a better understanding and management of leakage. It is also a prerequisite to the introduction of smarter tariffs.

Our 2006 report, Water Efficiency in the South East of England - Retrofitting Existing Homes, shows that as much as 50 percent of extra demand from new homes planned for the south east could be met by a combination of compulsory metering and making existing housing more water efficient. Our work with Defra and the Department for Communities and Local Government,  Towards Water Neutrality in the Thames Gateway, also shows that 70 percent of the 160,000 new homes planned for the area would need to be metered by 2016 if we are to ensure that there will be enough water for both residents and the environment.

Critics have argued we have a misplaced faith in water metering. But when all is said and done, we need ways of providing sustainable and affordable treated water supplies across the country as climate change bites. That is why we will have more to say about the role of metering in our new and far-reaching Water Resources Strategy due out in December. Our world is changing and, as key stakeholders already agree, the 'use less, pay less' principle will be crucial in helping us all adapt to it.

For more information about the Environment Agency's role in managing water resources in England and Wales, visit www.environment-agency.gov.uk/savewater 

*Rob Westcott is Water Demand Management Policy Manager at the Environment Agency.