To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many domestic properties in England with a water supply (a) have and (b) do not have individual water meters. (271744)

Ofwat is the economic regulator of the water and sewerage industry in England and Wales.

The latest metered and unmetered figures (2007-08) for domestic properties are:

Metered—approx 6,779,369;

Unmetered—approx 13,764,754.

These figures are for meters that are billed and do not include figures for Welsh Water or Dee Valley Water as the majority of their customers are based in Wales. However, because there is some overlap of water companies’ supply areas between England and Wales it has not been possible to separate out all the meters that may be fitted in Wales.