In article , Mike
wrote:

"Stan The Man" wrote in message
...
In article , Mary

Fortunately, the advance of water metering presents the water compnaies
with a dichotomy. If we are brainwashed into using less water, the
water industry gets less revenue from metered properties. Fokestone &
Dover water company, which lifted its hosepipe ban this month, has a
vested interest in doing so because it announced earlier this year that
all its customers would be compulsorily metered.

The Isle of Wight has been metered for years, thus my 8 water butts:-))

The Isle of Wight provides an interesting test area. When they first
introduced compulsory meeting, water consumption per household dropped
by around 10% on average - but this figure has gone down every year
since so that today, average consumption is only approx 1% less than it
was before metering was imposed.

That could mean that we have more money and are prepared to spend it on
water; or it could mean that the metered water bills were not as scary
as folk had feared; or it could mean that everyone is now accustomed to
using less water.