NORTH West Water is aiming to install pre-payment meters in homes with bad payment records (LET, October 24) and, no doubt, will be charging them with the cost of the meter and its installation.

The meters will automatically shut off the supply when credit has run out, and will leave the household with dry taps.

Water is a necessity of life; we cannot live without it, and there is no substitute.

The wellbeing of the people, the quality of life, and the potential deterioration of their general health is not, apparently, a consideration; only that NWW gets its money in.

Before privatisation, water was free to all (subject only to water rate) to use whatever was needed, and everyone was happy.

We are now told by Hyndburn's Conservative leader that water meters are on their way "whether we like it or not," and so we can look forward to the rationing of water, according to whether we can afford the monopoly price they aim to charge or not.

I call into question whether the prIvatised water companies have specific powers to impose upon the citizens of this democracy the diabolical devices of the water meter which effectively rations by price this hitherto free resource which falls freely from the heavens and, I thought, was intended for all, not only for those who could afford to pay for it.

Perhaps someone will disabuse me.

C BAKEWELL, St James Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.