Pool owners install water meters

Houses with sprinklers or large swimming pools in parts of Kent will need to install water meters as a scheme expands, a water firm has said.

The second phase of Sutton and East Surrey Water's programme affects Four Elms, Crockham Hill, Edenbridge, Bough Beech, Chiddingstone and Mark Beech.

The first phase was carried out in the north and west of the company's supply area some years ago.

Jeremy Downer, distribution manager, said metering would benefit everyone.

'Water-saving move'

"Meters are widely recognised as being the fairest and most accurate way of charging for water," he said.

He added that meters encouraged people to avoid wasting water and said the move would benefit everyone in the South East - which recently saw a two-year drought.

The second phase of the programme gets under way next month, when the company will write to unmetered domestic customers.

Properties affected include those with an unattended watering device, and those with a swimming pool automatically replenished from the mains and with a capacity greater than 10,000 litres (2,200 gallons).

The firm supplies water to more than 650,000 people in east Surrey, and parts of West Sussex, west Kent and south London.