Water metering success trickles through to consumers

Tuesday 20 January 2015

You'll be pouring just a bit more money down the drain when water prices go up in April.

Jersey Water is putting up its prices by around 1.75% but says it's managed to keep the rise below inflation because it's tapped into so many homes and put them on a meter.

The company has spent the last five years metering properties around the Island and says it's on track to have 90% connected by the middle of this year.

Jersey Water’s Chief Operating Officer Helier Smith said: “By focussing on managing our costs and operating efficiently we have, for over a decade, been successful in maintaining our policy of keeping price increases at or below inflation. This has meant that during that period, taking inflation in to account, the price of water in Jersey has fallen by just under 12%.” 

“The benefits of metering are already being seen. Consumption of water over the 5 years since the island wide metering project was started has decreased by 2.4%, this is despite the addition of nearly 2,000 new connections in that period. Customers are also benefitting as they are now in control of their water bills. Approximately 60% are seeing a reduction in their water bills since they went on to a meter.” 

The company are waiting for the green light from planning to start a £6 million project to modernise the desalination plant to make it more energy efficient and double the amount of fresh water it can produce when water supplies are running low.

 You can see all the company's prices for 2015 here.