Severn Trent smart water meters disappointment

Sterlingtimes

Severn Trent provided a smart water meter a couple of years ago. It later installed telephone poles equipped with radio equipment to collect data from the meters. Even better, it provided customers with My Smart Tracker, which provided hourly water usage statistics.

Last week, Severn Trent stated to me: "we don't provide smart tracker anymore".

I have written to Severn Trent Green Recovery to enquire whether this move marks a failure in their smart metering programme. 

Hoenir

Why a failure? The novelty of monitoring utlities on a device soon wears off. Water being one of the easiest to monitor and control.  

cantbelieveit23

We requested a water meter from Severn Trent in 2021 and it has been a great saving (billed over £400 p/a in 2021 as against £250 now).  I have never been offered a Smart Meter.  ST check the meter every 6 months.  If I am curious about how much water we have used, I get my hands dirty and check it myself.  Never discovered any surprises.

Sterlingtimes

Hoenir said:

Why a failure? The novelty of monitoring utlities on a device soon wears off. Water being one of the easiest to monitor and control.  

Not for me.

mmmmikey

Sterlingtimes said:

Hoenir said:

Why a failure? The novelty of monitoring utlities on a device soon wears off. Water being one of the easiest to monitor and control.  

Not for me.

Or for me. 

Reading my water meter involves cleaning the top of the chamber, finding a screwdriver to lever the top off, using a sponge and bucket to get rid of any dirty water inside the chamber, cleaning the display with a cloth, then getting right down on my hands and knees in the mess and shining a torch down the hole. Usually at that point I realise that I've left my glasses in the house, there's a clap of thunder and the torrential rain starts. 

Fortunately I'm with Anglian Water and have a smart meter that has always worked reliably and easy access to the data online.

Being able to see hourly data doesn't save water in itself, but it does give you a good idea where the water's going which can be quite enlightening. A quick glance at the chart gives you a good sense of how much your using for laundry, showering, etc. so you know where to focus your water saving efforts.

I take the point that the need for that diminishes with time, but it's still a good thing to do once in a while IMHO. And things change - my water softener developed a fault and started using a lot of water for regeneration and looking at the online charts made it obvious that was where the problem was, without needing to get up at 03:00 to check it. I also had a slow leak (overflowing cistern trickling very slowly into the toilet bowl) which Anglian Water were able to detect and inform me about in an email.

So all things considered if I was a Severn Trent customer I'd certainly share your disappointment and frustration.

Hopefully this is just a transitional thing, they continue with their smart meter roll out and sort something out that allows you to see the data again.

Sterlingtimes

mmmmikey said:

Sterlingtimes said:

Hoenir said:

Why a failure? The novelty of monitoring utlities on a device soon wears off. Water being one of the easiest to monitor and control.  

Not for me.

Or for me. 

Reading my water meter involves cleaning the top of the chamber, finding a screwdriver to lever the top off, using a sponge and bucket to get rid of any dirty water inside the chamber, cleaning the display with a cloth, then getting right down on my hands and knees in the mess and shining a torch down the hole. Usually at that point I realise that I've left my glasses in the house, there's a clap of thunder and the torrential rain starts. 

Fortunately I'm with Anglian Water and have a smart meter that has always worked reliably and easy access to the data online.

Being able to see hourly data doesn't save water in itself, but it does give you a good idea where the water's going which can be quite enlightening. A quick glance at the chart gives you a good sense of how much your using for laundry, showering, etc. so you know where to focus your water saving efforts.

I take the point that the need for that diminishes with time, but it's still a good thing to do once in a while IMHO. And things change - my water softener developed a fault and started using a lot of water for regeneration and looking at the online charts made it obvious that was where the problem was, without needing to get up at 03:00 to check it. I also had a slow leak (overflowing cistern trickling very slowly into the toilet bowl) which Anglian Water were able to detect and inform me about in an email.

So all things considered if I was a Severn Trent customer I'd certainly share your disappointment and frustration.

Hopefully this is just a transitional thing, they continue with their smart meter roll out and sort something out that allows you to see the data again.

I have the same routine and same challenges. Additionally, I have eyesight limitations and Severn Trent installed the radio module so that it most obscures the numbers. 

Sterlingtimes

I will post again when Severn Trent Green Recovery responds.

Trillis

I saw my 'new' Severn Trent smart meter when it was first installed.  Like a PP, mine is down a hole, covered in mud, but with the added challenge of an ants nest. I have never been able to read it since installation.  I tried again the morning, got bitten several times, and with ants still crawling all over me gave up trying to clean the meter enough to read it. My bills say 'estimated' (I have no idea why).  But after this morning I have given up ever trying to read the meter again, so I have no clue whatsoever about my water consumption, and never will. My old meter is easy to read, under the kitchen sink. I'd very much love to go back to it.

mmmmikey

Trillis said:

I saw my 'new' Severn Trent smart meter when it was first installed.  Like a PP, mine is down a hole, covered in mud, but with the added challenge of an ants nest. I have never been able to read it since installation.  I tried again the morning, got bitten several times, and with ants still crawling all over me gave up trying to clean the meter enough to read it. My bills say 'estimated' (I have no idea why).  But after this morning I have given up ever trying to read the meter again, so I have no clue whatsoever about my water consumption, and never will. My old meter is easy to read, under the kitchen sink. I'd very much love to go back to it.

Have you informed Severn Trent about the difficulty you have reading the meter? I know that when I had a similar issue and reported it to Anglian Water they came out, cleaned out the inspection chamber and fitted a new lid without any cost to myself.