Water, water everywhere (continued).....

Back in 2006, I commented how a water company in Kent had been given the go-ahead to force 65,000 householders to install water meters.

Now I see that the Environment Agency has urged “near universal” water metering for England and Wales.

Ian Barker, head of water resources at the Environment Agency, said: "We need to use what we have more carefully because the sources on which we currently rely will become less reliable in the future." He said not all the messages about reducing water use in the home were getting through.

The report goes on to state water metering should be accompanied by suitable tariffs to protect vulnerable groups and make reducing water use more attractive.

But the Campaign for Water Justice called the plans a "travesty", saying the poor would be hit hardest.
Call for widespread water meters

Being my usual cynical self, I'm backing the Campaign for Water Justice. I haven't changed my opinion from the following comments I made years ago:

"First of all, "New" Labour once opposed water metering, before the 1997 election. They branded it "a tax on family life." But it's not the first time this government has done a volte-face (and it won't be the last).
Secondly we as consumers are being forced to pay for years of under-investment (by previous governments and then by the privatised water companies) in maintaining and repairing the infrastructure (pipes and treatment plants) which has played a part in these shortages.
Finally, I know operating costs has previously made this idea a non-starter, but shouldn't we look at desalination plants again? Being an island nation, we're surrounded by water."