COMPULSORY water meters are set to be installed in every home in the borough.
The news comes from supplier Sutton and East Surrey Water (SESW) who say we are in danger of running out of water in the next ten to 25 years.
Bosses at the firm's Redhill HQ say meters are needed to mitigate increasing demand on supplies as climate change and a growing population put more strain on water stocks.
Other measures being considered, which are set out in the company's Draft Water Resources Management Plan, include finding new water sources, getting water from the Thames, lowering leakage rates and educating customers to use less water.
The South East of England has already been classified as "under serious water stress" by the Environment Agency and the problem is only expected to get worse in the next 25 years.
"We expect population growth to create the biggest need for new supply and demand management measures during the planning period," said Stuart Hyslop of SESW.
He added: "If we take no action, our baseline forecasts of supply and demand over the planning period show we expect existing sources to be insufficient to meet demand from 2023/24 onwards."
Metering of houses could begin as early as 2015, Mr Hyslop said, which could affect as many as 32,000 properties by 2020. If the plans are approved, compulsory metering would begin from 2020 for ten years, with plans to have 90 per cent of properties metered by 2040.
Other plans in the pipeline include increasing the capacity of treatment works at the surface water reservoir in Redhill, and possibly importing bulks of treated water from other companies.
SESW is holding a public meeting at 9.30am on Tuesday at Reigate Manor Hotel, Reigate Hill to explain the measures and potential implications. There will be workshops and an opportunity to ask questions before a presentation on the firm's plans to maintain supplies.
