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Where have prepaid water meters been outlawed? Why?

Prepayment Meters, known as Budget Payment Units or Trickle Valves in the United Kingdom, were declared illegal under the U.K. Water Act of 1998. The Act outlawed the use of any device that cut off customers’ water supply due to insufficient credit on their prepayment cards, otherwise called "self-disconnection." The ruling was based on the premise that the provision of water is vital to public health.

Problems in the United Kingdom surfaced in 1992 when all major cities run by private water corporations noticed a rise in the number of cases of dysentery reported. Water companies were criticized for cutting off water supplies and failing to notify local authorities of these cutoffs, despite their statutory duty to do so due to the associated health risks. The medical and nursing profession argued that a clean water supply was essential for human life, hygiene and health. The government, at that time, agreed and openly acknowledged that disconnection should not be available as a means of recouping debt from delinquent domestic customers, simply stating, "… where the water is disconnected, the maintenance of good health and hygiene can only be put at risk."

The water companies installed prepayment meters to avoid legal responsibility for water cutoffs. According to their logic, consumers would "self-disconnect" when they were unable to pay. The Birmingham City Council challenged the legality of the prepayment meters. It was estimated that in Birmingham alone 2,489 "self-disconnections" had resulted from prepayment meters in a short period. It was this and other challenges by affected municipalities, which led to the passage of the 1998 Water Act that declared the prepayment meters illegal.

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