Drought in UK Justifies Installation of Smart Water Meters

Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism
May 5, 2012

 

 

 

 

In the UK, Environment Secretary, Caroline Speilman has announced that families will have to conserve water ; even if this means using toilet water for bathing. A drought is causing devastation and economic hardship.

The Government is warning that the water situation is drastic, and that off the grid water collections are in need. While this announcement is conveyed to the public, Ministers allow corporations to waste 25% of treated water through faulty pipelines. This amounts to 3.3 billion litres (or 726 gallons) of water per year.

The House of Lords of Agriculture, Fisheries and Environment EU Sub-Committee released a report calling for a price hike for water. Lord Carter added: “Having taken our water resources for granted for so long, we must start looking at ways in which we can protect the quality and availability in the face of challenges such as climate change and population growth. Price increases may well be an inevitable part of helping to secure our water supplies.”

The Consumer Council on Water has yet to publish the exact pricing for public water. A spokesperson commented: “There is a real fear of a third dry winter,’ she said. ‘We want to know now what investment companies will be making to avoid supply problems. We don’t think it should be up to the public to make sacrifices.”

Sir James Dyson has come forth, calling for engineers to create an ingenious answer to the problems facing the UK. Dyson has appealed to American engineers who have invented ways of reusing water from showers that is rerouted to toilets.

Dyson remarked: “We are warned that empty reservoirs and parched lawns lie ahead, so it’s time to adopt the Victorian mindset and engineer a revolution in our water supply and usage. It is politicians who should be leading this charge … but ingenious ideas from engineers will also help us use what we’ve got more efficiently. We’ve been hanging onto the coat-tails of great Victorian engineers for too long. We need to step up our vision and ensure we are equipped to meet our needs.”

The drought could be the catalyst that creates an even bigger issue .

Smart water meters at on their way to homes throughout the UK. Thames Water, the nation’s monopoly water corporation, has plans to install these meters in every home by 2015. This means 85,000 smart water meters will be surveying customers across the English landscape.

While water usage will be monitored by these meters, they are expected to expose customers who are not complying with water restrictions in designated areas.

The smart meters are being beta tested by Thames Water in towns like Reading and London.

The Environmental Agency has announced that beginning with the initial phase of installations of smart water meters in 2015, the whole of Britain will be fitted with these surveillance devices by 2030.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Agency said: “The water sector in England and Wales is actively considering the potential for smart metering,” said a spokesman. “We are especially interested in the opportunity for water to share communications infrastructure with the energy sector.”

To curb usage, officials plan to charge customers more for water during restriction times and place “seasonal tariffs” to discourage wasteful use. The Government plans use big brother to control their citizens and justify higher prices on the basis of data they collect from their smart meters.

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