Probably OT, but my attention was drawn by a posting on water meters,
and it made me wonder again
why water meters are not a standard part of the water supply?

Every year one reads of water shortages in parts of the UK
(not so much in Ireland, but it is not unknown here).
One would have thought a charge by water usage
would be an obvious response.
I was staying in a relative's house in Brussels,
and they had an enormous meter in the basement,
which I assume is standard there.

Are water meters inordinately expensive?
Or do they have some disadvantage?

--
Timothy Murphy
e-mail (80k only): tim /at/ birdsnest.maths.tcd.ie
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s-mail: School of Mathematics, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland