In Irkutsk, summer water lines will this year get a new requirement, meter installation under the federal energy saving law. Vodokanal plans to install 635 meters in May at its own expense, then recover the costs, since last years checks showed watering use far exceeds norms. The piece also explains how this will affect private homeowners and gardeners, and why individual meters can help pay only for water actually used.

“The procedure for connecting summer water lines has generally remained unchanged; it can be found on the Vodokanal website or by calling us. The only new feature introduced this year is the requirement to install metering devices. This is dictated by the federal law ‘On Energy Saving,’” said Sergei Vinarsky, director of MUP Vodokanal.
By law, consumers were supposed to install metering devices by July 1, 2012, the Vodokanal director continued. If this has not been done, the obligation falls on the supplier (Vodokanal in Irkutsk), with subsequent reimbursement of the costs. According to Sergei Vinarsky, consumers reacted negatively to this legal requirement. The cost of one device ranges from 2,000 to 6,000 rubles. It is designed for 5 to 12 consumer households. MUP Vodokanal decided to install the devices at the enterprise’s expense. During May, Vodokanal employees are to install all 635 devices on summer water lines whose consumers are both private homeowners and dacha plots.
“Last year, for monitoring purposes, we installed 10 devices on summer water lines. They showed that water consumption is much higher than the standard, since a great deal of water is used to irrigate vegetable gardens. Therefore, metering devices are necessary so that the resource is paid for in proportion to consumption,” Sergei Vinarsky explained.
The Vodokanal director explained that residents of each house or dacha plot also have the option of installing individual metering devices themselves. In that case, they will definitely pay only for the amount of water they themselves consumed, not their neighbors.
Summer water lines operate from May 3 to October 1.
Based on materials from the Press Service of the Irkutsk city administration