This means that you only pay for the water you use. Thames Water will be fitting compulsory water meters for all of their customers, starting in London.

 

In London, Thames Water is predicting a shortfall of 387 million litres of water a day by 2045 increasing to 688 million litres of water a day by 2100. Compulsory water meters are part of Thames Water's plan to protect water supplies for future generations and install a better understanding of how to manage water supplies. 

 

This could mean significant savings for your household or bigger bills but the main objective of Smart Water Meters is to raise people's awareness of how much water they’re using and to potentially reduce the water usage as they’ll be more aware that they have to pay for how much they use.

 

There are many advantages to smart water meters for example; they encourage water conservation, they encourage effective distribution of water and could save some households a lot of money. 

 

Although there are also many disadvantages for example; if you use a large amount of water this can increase your water bill, if you had a leak (although Thames Water would be able to notify you) you would still be paying for the water lost. For some households it will be much more expensive to have a water metre.

 

Smart Water Meters will be an important step forwards in sustaining water and being able to provide adequate resources for future generations.