GENERAL PROJECT

Smart Suffolk

We’re bringing smart water meters to Suffolk. These innovative meters will help us to protect our resources in areas of water scarcity whilst also helping you to monitor your own water usage through regular meter readings. This will lead to more accurate bills and can help you to save money. We’ll be working hard over the next two years to make these meters available in Suffolk and we will keep you fully up to date with what is happening and when.

The stages

Stage one: survey

We need to understand where we have boundary boxes in the street, what condition they are in and if they already contain a meter.
This is so we can accurately schedule in the appropriate work with minimal disruption.
The survey itself is not invasive. We won't need to enter your home or contact you on the day.
And as it’s a visual check, your water supply won't be disrupted. In some cases we might need to check the supply so we may knock on your door and ask you to run the tap.

What will I see?

You might see some markings on the floor, this is just so we can understand what work needs to be done on the next stage.

Stage two: boundary box installation

Where there isn't a boundary box already we will need to dig up part of the pavement and create a home for the smart meter.
There could be some disruption to the outside of your home, even if your property has a box already, your neighbours might not so you could still be affected.
We may need to turn off your water supply for around 10 minutes but we will have it back on as quickly as possible and we will knock on your door to let you know.
We will always make sure you have access to your home, but if you need any additional support please get in touch.
If there are some private property disruptions we will contact you directly.
After it's installed you might notice discoloured water. Just run your tap for a little while and it will clear up on its own.

Stage three: meter installation

In this stage we will be putting in your new or replacement meter into the boundary box that is outside of your home. There could be some disruption to the outside of your home, even if your property has a meter already.
We will need to turn off your water supply for around 10 minutes but we will have it back on as quickly as possible
We will always make sure you have access to your home, but if you need any additional support please get in touch.

Stage four: network connection

We will now connect your smart meter to the secure network so it can send us readings based on your water usage.
There won't be any disruption during this stage and nothing will change for you.

Stage 5: completion

Our work is now complete. There's nothing you need to do and if you haven't had a meter before, we will be back in touch with you in six months to let you know if you could save money by switching to a measured bill.