by Megan Darby
Data loggers put on water meters are frequently removed without warning or tampered with, according to third parties that fit them as part of a water management service.
There are concerns that the actions of water companies or their contractors could disadvantage consultants and licensed providers competing to offer water efficiency advice to businesses.
Neil Pendle, managing director of Waterscan, said it was “a massive problem”. One client, a hotel chain, found 130 out of 550 automated meter reading (AMR) devices fitted had been tampered with.
Jeremy Hobbis, director at licensee Severn Trent Select, said the issue was lack of communication. “Even if you sign up to a water company’s logging policy, there is no onus on that water company to inform you if they are going to disconnect that logger – or recompense if they do it by mistake.”
Water companies increasingly offer business customers AMR themselves, which means disconnecting third-party loggers risks being seen as as anti-competitive behaviour.
“Once retail takes off, if water companies offer that service it will be an interesting dynamic,” said Hobbis.
Sonia Brown, senior director of markets and economics at Ofwat, said at a Major Energy Users’ Council meeting on water competition last week: “We have heard allegations that some water companies have been acting as a blocker to water efficiency competition. Those are very serious allegations.”
The regulator said in a statement it expected incumbents to “encourage, facilitate and support” customers using a data interface on water meters to manage consumption, and that also applied to third parties working on behalf of customers.
Jo Tanner, head of communication at industry body Water UK, said: “Companies do clearly reserve the right to remove the data logger if they want to install their own data logging equipment/AMR or have to replace the meter.”
This article first appeared in Utility Week’s print edition of 5th October 2012.
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