Are smart meters the answer to looming water shortages?
Wave’s Head of Operations, Oli Shelley, puts a spotlight on smart water meters and discusses what their roll-out will mean for business customers as well as our water resources.
Over the past few years, MEUC members will have been hearing more and more noise about smart metering in water, which is welcome news, given how long they’ve been a feature of the energy market.
What is a smart water meter?
If your home or business has a smart meter for their gas or electric, a smart water meter works in a similar way. It collects and remotely transmits your consumption data regularly to your chosen water retailer. This makes your bills more accurate, removes the need for you to manually read your meter and gives you an abundance of data about your usage to help you make sustainable changes or decisions about your utilities. Sounds great, doesn’t it? So why are we still just talking about them?
The smart meter discussion
Your water meter is owned by your wholesaler. It’s their job to maintain and replace their customers’ water meters within their area, but it’s not just a case of exchanging your current meter for a smart meter. To make sure the data from your meter can be transmitted wirelessly, wholesalers will need to invest in networks to transfer the data.
At the end of 2023, wholesalers published their Water Resource Management Plans which share their intentions for managing water resources in their area.
By 2050, it’s predicted there won’t be enough water in any region of England to meet demand (1) . And, as businesses account for around a third of all water used, rolling out smart meters has been identified in the Water Resource Management Plans as one of the key measures to help understand usage and reduce wastage.
We still need to wait until the back end of 2024 to see if Ofwat will allow wholesalers to fund their planned smart meter roll outs via customer bills as part of the Price Review process, but the Water Resource Management Plans give us an idea of the direction of travel.
What does the timeline look like?
Wholesalers do not currently publish their roll out programs to customers, although Wave and other retailers are campaigning for this, but below (2) is a summary of current high level roll out plans to provide an idea of when you’re likely to get a smart meter in your wholesale region*.
Is it still worth investing in data collection devices?
As you can see, smart meters are coming but the timelines vary and are subject to change. It could be another five years before your business gets one or in some other cases it could be ten-15 years, so it’s important you don’t put your water saving goals on hold.
If you’re looking for efficiencies, working towards your own Net Zero and sustainability goals, you need reliable data, now. You can, and should, consider talking to Wave, your water retailer, or a third-party about getting an Automated Meter Reader (AMR) or data logger. Discuss any concerns with them and if you’re worried you may end up with a stranded asset if you get a smart meter quickly then it’s worth asking about options available to take it on a shorter term or even on year-by-year basis.
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What’s the difference?
If you’ve already got, or are thinking about getting, a data collection device like an AMR or a data logger, the output is pretty similar to your future smart meter. They all give you regular, accurate, usage data, often up to every 15 minutes which can help you understand more about how you use water, minimise wastage through leaks and provide your reads directly to your water retailer.
The main difference is your smart meter will be owned and supplied by your wholesaler who will look after the long-term management. It’s one fully integrated device that can collect and share your data. Whereas your retailer can supply you with a data collection device that fits on your existing water meter to transmit the data. Retailers like Wave can order and install it for you at an appropriate time.
In summary, smart meters will be a very welcome addition to the water management landscape, providing more accurate bills and granular data to help businesses manage their consumption but they could still be a little way off. Saving water can start today and we all need to play our part to make sure we preserve water supplies for future generations, so don’t put your goals on hold.
Sources
This article appears in Buying and Using Utilities Spring 2024
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