A raised eyebrow does not mean that I'm insinuating that you're making things up. For the record THIS end, I know lots of families around here and none of them has three cars in the driveway. Your local examples are exceptions. And, as I said, if water is in short supply you can ban car-washing. If water is plentiful then let people wash their cars (and do the kids' washing). You can educate people in responsible water use but imposing water meters on people who don't want them is too much of a blunt instrument for me in a country that generally has plenty of water, and you can bet your life that water companies wouldn't do it unless there was a profit in sight. Better to target agriculture and big industries that not only use vast amounts of water with near-impunity but also threaten rivers by excessive abstraction or by pumping hot water into them.