Severn Trent has begun rolling out a smart water meter network that it says will form a “regional hub” in its efforts to reduce water consumption.
The company is installing 250,000 smart water meters across Birmingham, Leicestershire and Shropshire by March 2025.
Half of those will be first time installations, and half will be upgrades from older style meters.
Severn Trent began creating the smart network in Coventry and Warwickshire as part of its £566 million Green Recovery programme.
Higher meter penetration will help householders reduce consumption with access to around the clock data on usage. Data from the smart meters will help the water company identify bursts in the network as well as customer-side leaks. Having a fully smart network will enable Severn Trent to calm its supply networks by redirecting resources at times of higher demand.
The company proposed to roll out one million smart meters during the next investment period (AMP8), subject to regulatory approval from Ofwat.
Smart metering and demand management has risen up the sector’s priority list as water resource challenges are predicted to worsen significantly in the coming decades.
Due to climate change and growing population, England is expected to have a multi-billion litre supply deficit each day by 2050.
Efforts to begin major infrastructure projects are underway to move water around the country but work to manage demand was not made an investment priority in previous regulatory cycles.
“Our smart meters will help us plan and manage demand meaning our customers get the water they need, when they need it,” said Thomas Puddefoot, subject matter expert at Severn Trent. “With climate change, and the drier summers we’re seeing, it really is important we’re conserving water as best we can.”