Utility Week

I N A S S O C I A T I O N W I T H And he says Southern Water is also working with Eastleigh Borough Council to develop a programme that will reward customers for using less water. Another example of Southern Water's incen ve-based approach was the recent year-long River Itchen Challenge, which offered money for community projects if local residents reduced their water usage. Earl says the area in rural Hampshire was chosen because water usage there is 180 litres per person, per day – significantly higher than the regional average of 130 litres. The scheme improved water efficiency by 6.7 per cent a er nine months, and 8 per cent overall. Although the reduc on in water usage was too low to trigger the first 10 per cent threshold for the firm to donate £15,000 to community projects, Earl says it s ll represents a great deal of "learning for both the local community and Southern Water". And Southern Water nego ated with the local council to provide swimming lessons for children in the local primary school for 12 months to reflect the effort put in by the community. "We have signed up to very ambi ous leakage reduc on targets – 15 per cent in the next AMP and 50 per cent in the long term," adds Earl. "It's now me to say 'will you work with us?'." Earl adds the water efficiency work already undertaken meant there was a smaller than expected upli in water usage during last year's "Beast from the East" winter condi ons and summer heatwave. "Customers have got used to the message that we live in a water-stressed region," he adds. "But it's important that we con nue to get this message out on a regular basis, and not just do a big spike of ac vity, followed by nothing for a while." RENEWED PRESSURE In the current poli cal climate, water companies are under renewed pressure from poli cians to improve customer service and reduce waste. There is also talk about ministers se ng a na onal household consump on target. Earl says Southern Water has pre-empted that with its Target 100 programme (see box), but adds that it should not be wholly- owned by the water companies. "We have a responsibility as a society to manage our water resources," he explains. "We think government needs to get a number of levers pulled na onally to support us. "One of those levers is labelling across all water-using products, so when you buy a product, you have an instant check of how efficient it is. "Metering has been the fundamental bedrock of our efficiency programmes," he adds. "Mul ple players are now suppor ng our call to roll out meters beyond the water-stressed South East. But metering is not the be-all and end-all. It's the start of the journey, not the end. I think some water companies have not reached that mindset yet." Earl also sees big opportuni es for water companies to work with local authori es and developers to encourage them to build more water efficient homes, by offering discounts or waiving infrastructure connec on charges. "It's about how you get society to work with you on these projects," he tells U lity Week. "It's very easy to just look through the prism of business customers, or how the business acts. You have to get alongside people, find out what's making them ck and give them the resources to help themselves. "We have to get customers to work with us to understand how important water is in their lives, without expec ng them to become water efficiency geeks." A er six years, Earl remains as enthusias c about his work as ever. With efficiency likely to be high on the industry agenda for some me to come, his passion is good news for Southern Water, its customers and the sector as a whole. "Every day is really exci ng," he adds. "There's so much varia on in what we are doing." U lity Week is interviewing a series of change makers in the run- up to U lity Week Live, which takes place from May 21-22 at the NEC in Birmingham. To find out more go to h ps://www.u lityweeklive.co.uk/ TARGET 100 Target 100 is a game-changing "social contract" that has been developed by Southern Water to reduce average water consump on to 100 litres per person, per day by 2040. The programme builds on the work started in 2010 when Southern Water became the first water company to introduce a universal metering programme, which has helped customers reduce water usage by 16 per cent. Currently, customers use an average of just 129 litres each per day, compared with the UK average of 141. Earl says it is the "most ambi ous programme in the UK water industry" and is based on four pillars, which together will help transform water usage in its catchment area: | Southern Water move from sending customers two bills a year to monthly promp ng, showing each household how much water it is using. | The u lity firm will also expand its home visit programme to 100,000 visits over the next five years. | It will launch a behavioural change programme to help customers understand why water is important to them. | And finally, it is looking to launch a range of incen ves to encourage households to use less water. UTILITY WEEK | 5TH - 11TH APRIL 2019 | 29

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