Southern Water is to install 3,000 more water meters on the Isle of Wight.
As long ago as 1989 the company installed nearly 50,000 meters on the Island in one of 12 UK trials. The Island’s trial was the biggest and many argue the most successful as customers went on to reduce their water consumption by 16% compared to a UK average of approximately 10%.
Darren Simmons, Head of Field Services at Southern Water said:
“We are delighted to be returning to the water-efficient Island this summer to carry out further meter installations, with the first installations to take place in August.
“This is part of Southern Water’s five-year universal metering programme, which commenced in 2010, to install nearly 500,000 meters across the Southern Water region of Kent Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
“The meter we shall be installing is one of the fastest, most advanced drive-by meters in the world. It also boasts a leak-alarm which, when we commenced our metering programme, was unique in Britain and is the only such model to integrate a transmitter and processor into its vacuum-sealed head which aids reliability.”
The automatic leak alarm activates when water runs continuously through the meter for four hours. The alarm is picked up when the meter is read so that a leak can then be identified and repaired. Since the metering programme began in 2010, nearly 7,000 leaks have been detected where this ‘intelligent’ meter has been installed.
Another benefit is the meter’s ability to raise an alarm if it is tampered with, reporting exactly when the offence has taken place.
Every 11 seconds the meter transmits a reading. This is then captured automatically on a small terminal by a meter reader who simply drives past the meter. This saves customers the inconvenience of being troubled by meter readers.
The metering programme is delivering savings for the majority of Southern Water customers. To date, 62% of metered households across its region are saving, on average, £162 a year. This also means that customers’ energy bills are also likely to fall because heating water for use in taps, baths and showers makes up around 30% of the average household’s energy bill.
Darren added:
“We look forward to fitting more meters on an Island which has long proven itself to be the most water efficient in our region. The Isle of Wight is the home of metering – the first Southern Water area to be predominantly metered all those years ago. It’s where we began and is therefore an appropriate place to end our present metering programme.”
Featured photograph: Ed Robinson/OneRedEye
