Doncaster smart meter exchange starts as Yorkshire Water marks 250,000 milestone

Doncaster is the next major city set for a smart meter upgrade as Yorkshire Water reaches its 250,000 milestone in its ambitious programme, to exchange 1.4m meters across the region.

The five-year roll-out, which began in Sheffield in January 2025, is transforming how customers manage their water usage and helping to create a smarter, more resilient water network.

The programme will see 1.4 million existing meters replaced with smart technology by 2030, giving customers real-time visibility of their water consumption and enabling Yorkshire Water to detect leaks faster than ever before.

James Wilson, Manager of Smart Metering Delivery at Yorkshire Water, said: “Smart meters are making a big difference by helping customers save money, helping us find and fix leaks faster, and helping us all to save water. The 250,000 milestone is testament to the great work of our collaborative partnership with Netmore and MGroup.  Doncaster is the next major conurbation in our sight, ready to make the smart move and we are on track to exchange over 1,000 meters a day.

The drought and hosepipes restrictions of last year coupled with the recent warm spell have highlighted the importance of water saving and spotting and fixing leaks as quickly as possible.  Smart meters send over 20 readings per day, providing accurate billing and helping customers understand their own water usage.

This near-real-time visibility makes it easier to spot a problem and in over the last 12-months we have seen:

• 12,800 customers contacted about potential leaks because of having smart meters
• 9,387 customer self-served fixes following smart meter readings
• 11.16 million litres of water saved and potential damage to properties averted
• Over 250,000-meter exchanges across south Yorkshire since January 2025
• 204,000 smart meters now across the whole of the Yorkshire Water network
• Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Wakefield benefiting from smart meter technology

Yorkshire Water is working towards halving leakage across its network by 2050. Smart metering is a key part of this strategy, providing hourly readings that allow early detection of leaks before they become bursts, reducing disruption and cost.

The meter upgrade is straightforward and shouldn’t take any longer than about 20 minutes.  If the existing meter is outside, customers don’t have to do anything. The engineer will knock on the door just to let them know who they are and what they are doing and then just carry on and get the job done. Customers don’t have to be at home for engineers to swap the new meter if it is outdoors.

Customers with an existing meter indoors will receive a text to let them know our engineers are on their way over the next few weeks. The text will include a reference number and a link so that customers can access the booking page and make an appointment that is convenient for them for when the meter can be upgraded.

Water will be turned off very briefly as the meter is exchanged.  We will make a convenient appointment for any of our customers with a medical need, regardless of whether the existing meter is indoors or outdoors.

James continued: “Even if customers are not due for a smart meter exchange just yet, we would recommend that they register for an online account as soon as possible, and it is really straightforward to do.  Once set up, customers can easily access their bills and information, make secure payments faster, submit meter readings and then be ready for almost real-time usage and monitoring, once they’ve made the smart upgrade.  Once we have visibility of our own water usage, it is a lot easier to make simple changes and there are lots of water saving tips on the Yorkshire Water website.”

Customers can check if they’re due an upgrade and learn more about smart meters at www.yorkshirewater.com/smart-meters.