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Ok, this is a good idea.

The call comes from the Government\’s Environment Agency under a policy that amounts to \’rationing by price\’.

The introduction of smart meters could see families charged more for water in the summer months in order to stop them filling up paddling pools or washing their cars.

The agency argues that a drastic reduction in water use is needed to conserve supplies and save the planet.

It claims that universal meters would cut average household water use by as much as 15 per cent.

Rationing by price. Yes, we know this system works. Excellent.

I\’d probably go  a little further and adopt part of the Portuguese system. X per unit as a basic supply, X plus per unit for higher useage and X plus lots per unit for very heavy users. Basic supply being some estimate of what a household needs for cooking, washing etc.

But OK. However, this is stupid.

It also wants strict controls on how efficient appliances must be, which could lead to a ban on power showers.

If you\’re already rationing by price then you don\’t need to ban anything. You\’ve already solve your problem of resource allocation.

 

14 thoughts on “Twits”

  1. One mustn’t forget that the well groomed lefties that rule us were once unwashed, long haired, bearded revolutionaries. For them washing is a relatively newly discovered idea, and they only do it because they have to appear on TV. As we proles don’t face that problem, they don’t understand our need to wash.

    As an aside, when I mentioned to foriegners that the inhabitants of the wettest country known to man worry about saving water, their reactions are a picture.

    Water is the ultimate renewable resource. Behaving as if it were about to be used up is plain stupid.

  2. ” For them washing is a relatively newly discovered idea, and they only do it because they have to appear on TV.”

    I take it you haven’t see the clip of Derek Draper?

  3. Rationing doesn’t work on the rich – they’ll still have power showers. And that’s not fair.

    So we have to ban them so that it’s fair.

    Obvious. Tim, why don’t you get it?

  4. Altho’ my heart’s not really in it, water meters does seem the way to go, provided it doesn’t just result in more monopoly profits for water companies.

    The Portuguese idea is too gimmicky. People’s ‘basic needs’ (whatever they are) are far better dealt with via welfare system, in this case, a modest tax on water used by everybody and a per capita credit to the water bill, which achieves much the same thing with less hassle.

  5. Is water metering (something that would save me some money, I guess) actually similar to the costs incurred by the water company? I mean in a lot of businesses the charges are not made by unit, e.g. telecoms. So if I use twice as much water, do I cost the water company twice as much? If not, it doesn’t necessarily mean that such a charging system is wrong, but I’d be interested in how it works.

  6. Marksany has it. It’s all about bringing everyone down to the lowest common denominator in the intersts of ‘fairness’.

    And then lobbying for extra allocations for special interest groups, of course…

  7. ChrisM

    Dolly is new to TV, he’ll wise up soon. They say his wife is a TV star so maybe she’ll say something to him.

  8. His wife is actually quite presentable (Kate Garraway? from some morning tv show that my missus watches).
    I don’t know what it is with that TV show though. They also had the dreadful labour loving Fiona Phillips presenting for years.

  9. Over here in Northern Ireland where it’s still nationalised, the big problem with water meters is going to be that the water charges will be introduced whilst the bit of our rates that supposedly pays for water supply will mysteriously not vanish.

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