New research undertaken by Frontier and Artesia, commissioned by Arqiva, highlights the strong social and environmental case for rolling out smart meters for the water sector across England & Wales. This report evaluates the benefits and costs of a smart metering programme, exploring the balance of costs and benefits at the national level, as well as for individual water companies and regions.

Key findings in the report include:

• A coordinated roll-out of smart water metering by 2030 would deliver £4.4bn in benefits to society against costs of £2.5bn – a net benefit of £1.9bn.
• The positive investment case for water smart metering includes reduced carbon emissions. 
• The cost of rolling out smart metering would be more than offset by savings on leakage control, network management and by avoiding the need for other water resources. This positive return on investment would reduce total costs incurred by water companies, which should enable reduced bills for households over time.   

The report was launched at a Smart Water Metering event organised by Waterwise on 23 November.  Rob Francis, from Frontier Economics and Rob Lawson, from Artesia, presented the findings of the research to an audience of key industry stakeholders.

Rob Francis, Associate Director at Frontier Economics, said: “This detailed research reveals a significant and sustained opportunity where the expected gains to society far outweigh the potential costs. Furthermore, the rollout of smart metering provides the option for further benefits to be delivered in the future, strengthening the case for this technology to be deployed.”

This cost-benefit analysis shows that smart metering improves awareness of and action on water saving, underlines the need for a smart meter rollout, with benefits for the water industry, individual households and society.

To read the summary report, please click here.

To read the full report, please click here.

For further information please contact media@frontier-economics.com or call +44 (0) 20 7031 7000.