County Sligo’s Water Metering Programme gets underway

Water customers throughout county Sligo will shortly benefit from a new means of paying their water charges. Non domestic (commercial, agricultural, industrial or institutional) customers are to be billed for water on a metered basis, which will ensure they will only pay for what they use.

Background

The water metering project is being undertaken as part of the Government’s ‘Water Services Pricing Policy’ The new policy will ensure that consumers will enjoy the benefit of a fair and equitable charging system, in that they will only pay for water they consume.

The charge will only relate to the non-domestic i.e., business and farming, element of the water supply. Local Authorities are prohibited by law from charging for a domestic supply.

Sligo will be one of the first counties to get a metering programme underway. The government intends that all non-domestic consumers will be metered and charged for water by 2006.

Survey

Before the meters can be installed, a countywide survey of non-domestic and combined services properties (e.g. domestic/agriculture) will be carried out. This work is currently underway and will record the compilation of information such as location of stopcocks and number and location of connections etc.Water meters will then be installed on a date to be agreed with the various property owners. An information leaflet outlining details of the new scheme will be circulated over the coming weeks.

A Fairer Way to Pay

The existing system of charging for water involves a flat rate for each category of connection irrespective of usage. The charge is exactly the same within each category regardless of the amount of water that is actually used. At the moment, all businesses pay an annual charge depending on the type of business. Once the meters are installed, non-domestic users will only pay for the water they use.

The new system will also be more equitable in that the charge to be levied will be notified to consumers well in advance of its implementation, in order that this cost can be factored into their business plans and projections. The new charge will include a fixed and variable charge - the fixed charge will cover the cost of providing, installing and maintaining the meter, while the variable charge will be based on the quantity of water used.

An important concession under the new arrangement is that water users who have supplies with a domestic element will benefit from a domestic allowance. For example, this will apply in the case of a farmer whose house and land are on the same connection, or where a shop and living accommodation are in one premises. Tax relief may also be available in certain circumstances.

Water in/Water out

When a customer is connected to a public sewer, bills will be calculated on the basis of a ‘Water in/water out’ principle. This means that if a customer uses, for example, five cubic metres of water per day, it will be assumed that they will be liable for discharge of five cubic metres of waste water to the network.

Delivering a new service

In March 2002 Sligo Borough Council and Sligo County Council appointed Atkins, Consulting Engineers, supported by H2O Water Services as Consultants for the Water Metering project. The consultants’ brief was to procure a water metering and billing service for both authorities. Following a tendering process, the contract for the project was awarded to Veolia Water.

About Veolia Water

Veolia Water are the world leader in water and waste water treatment, operating in 65 countries with a workforce of over 78,000. Their operation of three water supply companies in the South of England alone ensures the delivery of 900 million litres of water a day to a population of 3.3 million.

What Veolia will do?

Under the terms of the contract, Veolia Water (Ireland) will have responsibility for

• Pre-installation surveys
• Design/installation of meters
• Maintenance/reading of meters
• Issue bills and collection of revenue

The Veolia Team can be contacted at 071-9133118