Smart meters? Not these! Shabbat fears over water

A spokesman for the water company said a “very constructive meeting” had taken place with the UOHC on Monday.

“We’re establishing the facts related to the current meters and more investigations are taking place in partnership with the UOHC to understand whether there is a contravention,” he said.

“We’ve agreed to pause our installations at those properties where there is a concern while these investigations are carried out.”

A spokesman for the UOHC said he believed thousands of homes could be affected.

If the meters are found to be Shabbat-unfriendly, the UOHC would seek to have them replaced, though not at an extra cost to Thames Water, the Union’s spokesman said.

“There is a type of meter which is used in Israel which does not incur the problem of use on Shabbat,” he said. “Thames Water said they would take a look.”

As for home-owners who have had one of the new digital meters installed outside their property, the UOHC spokesman said, “anyone who has a query should ask their own rabbi. There hasn’t been a blanket psak [ruling] on what people should do.”