Smart energy grids are now being rolled out all over Europe. One of their core elements are so-called smart meters – digital devices which can be read out and controlled by the utility from a distance. This raises some serious questions over IT security. Netanel Rubin’s talk On Smart Cities, Smart Energy, And Dumb Security at the 33rd Chaos Communication Congress (33C3) highlights some troubling issues for electricity meters. I believe that it is also worth considering the implications of ‘smart’ metering in the context of other essential urban infrastructures such as the water supply network. Mexico City’s water utility, for instance, is currently aiming to install ‘intelligent’ water meters in all households over the next years. Whether that is such a smart decision remains to be seen, keeping both IT security and user experience (or alienation) in mind. After all, a reading of insecure smart meters may apparently be taken by any somewhat skilled intruder but not by the ordinary end user him- or herself.