Ministers To 'Approve Compulsory Water Meters'

The Government is planning to make household water meters compulsory, according to a report.

Ministers To 'Approve Compulsory Water Meters'

Ministers are said to be on the verge of agreeing to a request from Thames Water to install metering across the board. If that happens, other companies are expected to follow suit.

The firm told Sky News it was not aware that an announcement is imminent, but spokesman Simon Evans said that if a report in the Sunday Times is true it would be "excellent news".

Mr Evans stressed there is no connection between a possible decision and the current drought , insisting the company has been lobbying for blanket metering since 2008.

But Thames Water says there is strong evidence that installing water meters does lead to reduce consumption.

The average usage in a unmetered home is 170 litres per person each day, but the figure falls to around 140 litres when a meter is installed.

Currently around 30% of Thames Water customers have meters - the company is aiming for 80% by 2025.

Campaign group Waterwise said it would welcome the introduction of blanket metering saying that it would help to alleviate current water shortages.

But Neil Fishpool from the Campaign for Water Justice said compulsory meters would be an "outrage", which would penalise larger families and lead to lower standards hygiene among the poor.

The Government would not comment specifically on Thames Water, but in a statement a spokesman for Defra said: "There's no one-size-fits-all solution and companies should be looking at where and how customers can become more water efficient.

"People want to do the right thing, and we want to make that as easy as possible."

©Sky News