Coventry and Warwickshire locals are being offered the opportunity to get smarter when it comes to saving water and money.

It comes as Severn Trent is rolling out its £20m smart meter programme, that’s set to give customers greater insights to their water use, which in turn could help them save hundreds of pounds.

The project is part of the company’s Green Recovery programme, where it’s installing over 150,000 smart meters to help create a smart water region, helping to save water.

Severn Trent say the meters will record near to real time data and provide insights into water usage, as well as help to find and fix leaks faster than ever.

Customers who have a smart meter installed will also benefit from a digital platform that provides data and insight into their water use.

Ant Hickinbottom, Smart Metering Programme Lead at Severn Trent says: “We all know we have a role to play when it comes to saving water, and smart meters are quite literally, a smart way forward to do just that.

“We’re installing thousands of meters across the region, where they will relay valuable water data back to us helping our teams to find and fix leaks as soon as they happen, with the added benefit of sharing customers valuable insight on their water use.

“This project is making great progress as we’re well underway with installing and connecting the smart meters, moving Coventry and Warks to a smart water region. Those with smart meters fitted may also have access to a digital platform that shares with them loads of info on water saving and what’s using a lot of water in the home, or alerting them if a leak.”

Smart meters will be able to pick up on things like leaky loo’s, that could see customers paying over £300 a year for water they don’t use.

Feedback from customers who have switched to normal water meters, stated they saw reductions of up to 75% off their bill.

The added benefit for some Coventry and Warks customers is they will have even more insight to their water use, access to the web portal and next to real time info to have better control and usage of their water so they are in control of what they pay for.

“It’s no secret that people generally save water when they switch to a meter, and we believe as well you should only pay for what you use, and smart meters are a great way of making sure that’s the case,” adds Ant “Not only is it great for the bank, but it means if there ever is a situation, like a leak or dropping tap, it can be found quickly and sorted as often leaks go unnoticed until they cause damage to homes, but with smart technology we can identify a leaks within hours.”

“With climate change, and the drier summers we’re seeing, it really is important we’re conserving water as best we can, as we know there’s no such thing as a never ending supply.”

Severn Trent asked some of its customers for feedback on its customer portal, Tap Chat, where it can get feedback and comments from customers. When asked about benefits following having a normal water meter fitted they said:

Frank said: “I have noticed a big reduction in my bills due to the way I’m controlling my water usage.”

Susan shared: “Our bill was reduced.  Although we thought we could reduce it by a lot, we were still surprised when the bill came in and it was considerably lower.”

And Nigel added: “My bill reduced by approx 50%. There are only 3 of us living in a 4 bedroom house.”

To find out more about our smart metering programme, visit stwater.co.uk/smart-benefits.