Prevalence
Water metering is common for residential and commercial drinking water supply in many countries, as well as for industrial self-supply with water. However, it is less common in irrigated agriculture, which is the major water user worldwide. Water metering is also uncommon for piped drinking water supply in rural areas and small towns, although there are examples of successful metering in rural areas in developing countries, such as in El Salvador.
Metering of water supplied by utilities to residential, commercial and industrial users is common in most developed countries, except for the United Kingdom where only about 30% of users are metered. In some developing countries metering is very high, such as in Chile where it stands at 96%, while in others it still remains low, such as in Argentina.
The share of residential water metering in selected cities in developing countries is as follows:
- 99% in Santiago de Chile (1998)
- 96% in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire (1987)
- 62% in cities in Guatemala (2000)
- 30% in Lima, Peru (1991)
- 28% in Kathmandu, Nepal (2001)
- 2% in Buenos Aires, Argentina (1992)
Nearly two-thirds of OECD countries meter more than 90% of single-family houses. A few are also expanding their metering of apartments (e.g. France and Germany).
Read more about this topic: Water Metering
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