Utility Week

P R E S E N T S o some, water effi ciency might be just another numbers game, but Southern Water's Ben Earl is posi vely evangelical about its wider benefi ts. Earl has been leading Southern Water's water effi ciency work for six years and has blazed a trail that has empowered customers, reduced consump on and built key partnerships with other stakeholders. "Water effi ciency has come of age," he tells U lity Week. "In the years I was working at B&Q, a lot of water companies were just sending out free products in the post and assuming savings. "Southern Water currently only sends out saver fl ush bags in the post, because they are light and easy for customers to understand. The rest of the help we off er is more targeted. We are going into homes, looking at proper es and prescribing what is right for them." Ini ally, Earl worked for the Woodland Trust, doing various community projects, which gave him a "real understanding of how local communi es ck". He then joined DIY chain B&Q, working on water and energy effi ciency. Southern Water's effi ciency programme started with its universal metering programme, which has been rolled out across the region and covers 88 per cent of its customers. Earl says about 60 per cent of customers have been found to be be er off a er having a meter installed. Forty per cent were worse off . That 40 per cent formed the basis of the curent water effi ciency programme. "It's about trying to get to those customers, inspiring them to act and giving them prac cal support to help them in their own homes." Earl is proud of Southern's home visit programme and says the company is on target to visit 28,000 homes during AMP6, which runs un l 2020. "The visits last about an hour," says Earl. "We take them through why water is important. Then we prescribe the products and fi t them for free. And we will check what is happening with the meters to see if we have cut consump on." Also, he points to the strategic partnerships that Southern Water has developed with Brighton and Hove City Council and Eastleigh Borough Council, which have helped push its water effi ciency work into new areas. Earl says Brighton and Hove has contacted residents who live in council stock and off ered visits from Southern Water's effi ciency team. "At the same me, we can off er an aff ordability visit, where we check the household fi nances and see if they are suitable to go on to a social tariff ," he explains. "The work is also being independently monitored by the University of Sussex to see what impact this all has on the family's life." As stark warnings come from the Environment Agency over looming water shortages, educa ng customers about reducing consump on becomes ever more important. Jamie Hailstone interviews our fourth change maker, Southern Water's water effi ciency manager Ben Earl, who is ahead of the curve. THE WATER CRUSADER CHAN G E M A K E R S BEN EARL 28 | 5TH - 11TH APRIL 2019 | UTILITY WEEK We think that the government needs to get a number of levers pulled nationally to support us II

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