The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) South East England has welcomed plans to install water meters to 74,000 homes in Brighton and Hove during the next year.
Director of ICE South East England, John Laverty, said: “In June this year ICE published its State of the Nation Water report and a key recommendation within that report was the need to implement universal metering, complemented by social and discretionary tariffs which protect the poor and the vulnerable, as well as demand management information allowing householders to understand how much water they use and how much that water costs.
“ICE South East England therefore welcomes the news that this month will see Southern Water begin a year long programme to install water meters to 74,000 homes in Brighton and Hove and we are particularly pleased that these will be AMR meters which includes a ‘leak alarm’ which will help identify leaks more easily on a householder’s private pipes which connect each property to the water network.
“South East England is classified as a water stressed area and evidence suggests that introducing water meters helps reduce demand on water resources.
“ICE’s report also recommends that government should drive ambitious targets to reduce per capita water usage by 30%. Metering will contribute to this as will the rollout of a public awareness campaign to educate society on the true value of water and empower them to manage their own water usage proactively.
“The Southern Water programme, which is coupled with water saving advice and devices available for householders, goes a long way towards what ICE recommended earlier this year and we look forward to seeing the results of this programme.”
ICE South East England has 11,000 members living and working in the region. More information can be found at www.ice.org.uk/see. You can follow ICE South East England on Twitter: @ICE_SEEngland