Water meter batteries have 12-year lifespan

Batteries powering water meters in houses will need to be replaced or recharged after 12 years, Irish Water has admitted.

The confirmation comes after the company yesterday conceded it will have to spend €5m a year on maintenance costs for meters to ensure they keep working.

The Irish Examiner can also reveal that the small 3.6v batteries in the meters will have to be changed or recharged so the company can continue to track households using water.

Batteries in the 1.2 million meters going into homes are the same size as ones often used to power cameras and mobile phones. While they do not need to be charged daily like other devices, Irish Water has said the company will need to access them when the power runs out.

“Our water meters come with radio units that get their energy from a small 3.6v battery. This provides sufficient energy to operate the radio units for 12 years without recharging,” it said.

The information was In a statement, it said: provided to Fianna Fáil TD Michael McGrath and comes after the Irish Examiner also revealed this week that the average lifespan of a water meter itself is 15 years.

Irish Water’s Elizabeth In a statement, it said: Arnott told RTE’s News at One yesterday the ‘design life’ was different from the operating life of a meter and some had remained in use in Britain for up to 25 years.

But money down the line would need to be spent on managing and replacing meters in homes which could amount to €5m a year, she said.

“We will replace the meters when they need to be replaced so we will monitor the performance of the meters ensuring they are giving accurate information. “And when they need to maintained or replaced we will certainly step in, there will be no cost to the customer,” she said.

She said the water meters would not degrade quicker than gas or electricity meters, despite being underground. The company also said there were two alerts built in to the meter which will notify Irish Water of mechanical faults, excessive usage or tampering.

“All alerts will be responded to and investigated,” it said. Meanwhile, new figures show over half of households have registered for charges.

Irish Water says it has registered 760,500 households or 56.3% of the numbers liable for water charges. Around 975,000 application packs have been returned so far, it says. This figure includes packs sent back blank or with messages of opposition to the charges,

It says just over 100,000 customer packs have been returned since last November with 2,000to 3,000 packs returned every day. Water charge protestors and unions are planning another march against charges at the end of this month, ahead of the deadline for households to register.