A coordinated rollout of smart water meters in the next price review period could deliver £1.9 billion in net benefits to society, including leakage control, improvements to network management and water efficiency, a study has concluded.
The cost benefit analysis by Frontier Economics found smart metering would deliver £4.4 billion of benefits against a cost of £2.5 billion to roll out. For each £1 spent on metering, the report calculated an environmental benefit of £1.73 for the industry, householders and society.
The report, commissioned by infrastructure provider Arqiva, modelled the costs and benefits of smart water metering over a 30-year period.
The study used 2025-30 as the base for modelling the impacts of a coordinated rollout, with the assumption that households would move towards metered billing within three years of installation.
It suggested that costs and benefits would vary regionally due to the specific circumstances of each area such as the existing meter penetration and level of water scarcity. Benefits were forecast to be most pronounced in the south east.
The study suggested smart metering would help water companies to support customers to lower their water consumption and to address leakage on customer-side pipes. These benefits could in turn contribute to lower carbon emissions and reduced operational costs.
Earlier this month, Waterwise published findings of an investigation into public attitudes towards smart water meters that showed favourable perceptions when the benefits were explained.
Respondents to the Waterwise survey ranked bill accuracy as the key benefit followed by better control over usage and environmental benefits such as reducing a household’s carbon footprint.
Fairness in terms of only paying for the water consumed and being alerted to consumer-side leaks came in lower down the ranking.
A previous report by Waterwise and Arqiva highlighted that smart metering could save more than one billion litres of water daily and save 0.5% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions.