De Watergroup says the decline in water consumption by the Flemish people continues

“There is a fundamental imbalance between our income and expenses: 80% of our spending is fixed, but only 20% of our income is fixed,” says Hans Goossens, Managing Director of De Watergroep. “At the moment, the loss does not have such a significant impact, but if we want to continue to invest sufficiently, which is essential if we are to resist climate change and more extreme weather conditions, it is necessary to review the water bill and tariff structure.” necessary.”

In the long term, billing should evolve into some sort of demand-based system, where consumers contribute more when they buy water at peak times, De Watergroup believes. “A similar system for energy consumption already exists,” says Brecht Vermeulen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of De Watergroup. “This will also apply to water in the future, so that peak consumption can be mitigated.”

In order to better track consumption, De Watergroep is currently deploying digital meters. The company said on Friday that the goal is to provide the vast majority of customers with such a meter by 2030, but the rollout is “a little slower” than expected, although it maintains its ambition. Last year, 77,600 digital water meters were installed, bringing De Watergroep’s current total customers to 150,000.