Written question asked by Jeffrey M Donaldson (Democratic Unionist Party) on Wednesday, 14 December 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 19 December 2005. It was answered by Shaun Woodward (Labour) on Monday, 19 December 2005 on behalf of the Northern Ireland Office.

Water Service

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many water connections to consumers in Northern Ireland are metered; and how many of these connections also serve a domestic pipeline.

Answer: The chief executive of Water Service (Mrs. Katharine Bryan) has been asked to write to the hon. Gentleman in response to this question.Letter from Katharine Bryan, dated 19 December 2005:"You recently asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland a Parliamentary Question about how many water connections to consumers in Northern Ireland are metered and how many of these connections also serve a domestic pipeline (38560). I have been asked to reply as this issue falls within my responsibility as Chief Executive of Water Service.""Water Service's current policy is to fit water meters to properties which are not used exclusively for domestic purposes. These include industrial, commercial, agricultural, public buildings and dwelling houses, which are also used for business purposes. 73,650 properties are currently metered.""50,181 of these properties currently attract the free domestic allowance of 200 cubic metres per annum, since they are deemed to include an element of domestic usage. Our metering records do not at present identify how many of these are dwelling houses."

Secondary information