Green Party in Cambridge calls for installation of water meters to be stepped up

The Green Party has called on Cambridge Water to install water meters more quickly.

Cambridge Water’s draft plan proposes to install 4,200 smart meters per year over 10 years, aiming for universal coverage by 2035. Its figures show 650 were installed between October 2021 and September 2022.

Sarah Nicmanis, the Green Party’s prospective Parliamentary candidate for Cambridge, said: “There are around 30,000 homes still unmetered in the Cambridge Water area – about one in five of their household customers.

“It’s very frustrating to see such slow progress towards universal metering, and an apparent inability to install meters promptly for those customers who have asked for one.”

The company has acknowledged delays due to Covid-19, but says that a catch-up plan is being developed. But Anglian Water has set a target for universal coverage of 2030. Regulator Ofwat says households with a meter typically use 10 per cent less water.

Cambridge Water’s website says most meters are installed within 90 days of the customer’s application.

But Green Party member Richard Potter, of Cherry Hinton, said despite five follow-up calls after Cambridge Water did an initial survey for him back in February, the water company has still not provided a date.

Natalie Akroyd, director of quality and environment at Cambridge Water, said: “73 per cent of properties in our Cambridge supply region already have a water meter fitted. We successfully bid for accelerated funding from Defra to drive forward our future metering plans and through this we aim to increase our metering programme significantly this year and next. To introduce universal metering, which means installing mandatory water meters for all customers, we do need to have customer support for this, and we’ve been engaging with our customers as we develop our longer term plans. As such, we're proposing to roll out universal metering in the region over the next 10 years.”

Cambridge Water is currently running a campaign urging people to ditch the hosepipe and use a watering can instead this summer.