Smart meters

The water sources used to supply homes in Salisbury and the surrounding areas have the greatest impact on the water environment and some of our most precious habitats - chalk streams.

Chalk streams and rivers are extremely rare. Conservationists and river experts consider them to be as unique as the Amazonian rainforest or Great Barrier Reef.

In fact, there are only around 200 chalk streams in the world, and half of them are in our region. The clear, nutrient-rich waters of these streams support a diverse range of species, including water voles, kingfishers and otters.

In preparation for installing smart meters, we are now starting to do some work on the external water supply pipe that feeds customers’ homes. This may include installing a new meter chamber, making changes to an existing one, or replacing the stop tap.

Most customer supply pipes won’t need any work. If we need to work on the pipe that connects to your home or carry out work in your street, we’ll send you a letter before we come to let you know.

No, you don’t need to do anything now – we’ll be in touch before we start work in your area and are ready to install your smart meter.

If, like most of our customers, you are already on a meter, we will upgrade your meter to a smart one when we reach your area.

If you are currently an unmetered customer, we will install a smart meter once we reach your area, and you can choose to switch to metered charges if you would like to.

In some cases, we may need to contact you to arrange an appointment to fit your smart meter.

If you are a Priority Services customer, and we know that you need water for specific reasons, we will contact you to arrange a suitable time.

Smart water meters don’t come with an in-home display, like some energy smart meters have. Instead, you will be able to access your smart data online from your mobile device or computer.

Yes. Public Health England has confirmed that smart meters do not pose a risk to health. A smart meter is inactive for most of the day, but when active it emits no more radio waves than a two-minute mobile phone call once per day.

For more information, read GOV.UK's guidance on smart meters and health

Your smart meter will look like something this.

Standard meters measure water use, but we have to read them manually, usually every six months. However, smart meters automatically collect hourly water use data and transmit it back to our systems daily.

They will also collect data at night to help us spot leaks by showing if water is being used at this time.

We’re currently developing our online dashboard that you’ll be able to sign in to and view your usage data. We’ll contact you to let you know when your data is available.

While we finish the development of our systems, we may need to read meters. But when everything is set up, we shouldn’t need to read them to generate your bill.

If you want to manually read your meter, you’ll still be able to do this.

When our systems are ready, we will monitor the data we collect to check for leaks.

Smart meters will provide data at 15-minute intervals between 2am and 4am. Most households do not use water during this time, so if there is continuous water usage this may indicate a leak.

If we think you have a leak, we’ll get in touch to give you advice and support.

If you are already a metered customer, we will let you know when we are upgrading your meter to a smart meter. You won’t be able to request an upgrade ahead of time.

If you are an unmetered customer, you can apply for a meter and we may install a smart meter.