Smart water meters saving four million litres per day in central England
Image: Severn Trent
Severn Trent has reported that its customers saved an average four million litres (4Ml) of water a day through their smart meters during 2024.
Severn Trent has installed more than 350,000 smart water meters so far, with the aim of rolling out 400,000 units to households and businesses by the end of April 2025.
With the smart meters Severn Trent customers are able to monitor and reduce their consumption, while the company is being enabled to improve the planning of water supplies and most importantly to aid leak identification and repair.
“Leaks over time can cost people a lot of money, whether that is on bills or damage caused to properties,” says Anthony Hickinbottom, Green Recovery Programme manager, Smart Meters at Severn Trent.
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“Our free smart meters are able to identify leaks much quicker, meaning we can alert the householder and help to get the problem fixed within days.”
He adds that if the company’s engineers are unable to fix the leak, they will put the customer in touch with the nearest recommended plumber.
The smart water meters are being installed across Severn Trent’s service area, including Coventry and Warwickshire, Birmingham, Leicestershire and Shropshire.
The programme forms part of the company’s wider plans to help customers reduce water consumption, with predictions estimating some UK regions could be facing some form of water scarcity by 2035.
In a statement Severn Trent quotes Consumer Council figures that customers could save £100/yr ($122/yr) switching off taps when brushing their teeth and similarly changing to a low flow shower head, £90/yr ($110/yr) fixing constantly dripping taps, £75/yr ($92/yr) cutting two dishwasher runs per week and £50/yr ($61/yr) cutting two washing machine runs per week.
