At present, therefore, there is no satisfactory answer as to how to households should be charged for water after the year 2000. The Strategic Problem Domestic consumption has been increasing since at least the 1960s and is projected to go on rising over the coming decades in response to both demographic and climate changes. Yet the present charging system contains no financial incentives for households to encourage water economy and to help keep future demand in line with supply. The scale of this strategic problem, though, is not clear cut. A reduction in the levels of leakage, allowing higher levels of consumption to be supported by the same level of abstraction, would provide some temporary relief to offset rising household demand.
Difficulties are more acute in some regions and in some years than others.
Overall, it appears that there is a significant strategic problem, but one that might not become pressing until, say, the year 2020. If radical options, such as the widespread metering of households, are needed, then it is in response to these timescales. The two problems above apply over very different time frames and cannot be solved simultaneously. We argue that the need to find solutions to the problem of charging for water in the short term presents an opportunity to facilitate the achievement of longer term objectives. The choice of a new charging system is a commercial decision for the water companies to make.