Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1223154
In Focus: customer experience 22 | APRIL 2020 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk W e have never been more switched on to the impact we're having on our planet. The consciousness is global, from Sydney to Stockholm, crossing continents and span- ning cultures. Here in the UK, our global 'wokeness' has never been higher, and it's creating a pace of change in behav- iours that has never been seen before. Thanks to David Attenborough and Greta Thunberg, the focus on waste, carbon and plastics is now rmly front of mind. The messages about how society can help are being received loud and clear and resulting in action. Eight out of 10 Brits are trying to reduce plastic waste, according to a recent YouGov survey, and we're willing to fork out more for eco- friendly packaging. Motivated by guilt but also (re)education, we are making changes to our behaviour that go beyond the convenient. When it comes to using less water, the messages have yet to cut through in the same way. During the 2019 Waterwise conference, Environment Agency chief executive James Bevan warned England would run short of water within 25 years if we don't act now. This gained wide- spread media attention and marked the next step towards a shiŽ in awareness around water consumption. And it was aimed at all of us; from customers to big retailers, developers to manufactur- ers, using less water should be a focus and the responsibility lies with all of us. But has the link between the direct and irrefutable impact water waste has on carbon and chemical use been made clear enough, not to mention the cost to both the customer and utility? Regionally, all water companies are doing their bit to address the problem. We all encourage customers to cut their consumption and have been tackling our own set of needs. The east of England is the driest UK region and home to three of the ve fastest growing UK cities (Cam- bridge, Milton Keynes and Peterborough), so at Anglian Water, our messaging is driven by this. We run large-scale water- saving programmes and we've found some encouraging customer insights though the Shop Window, our Newmar- ket-based innovation hub. They want to save water but need one clear message to get behind, with achievable actions to guide them there. Ultimately, customers don't want to have to guess what to do to address the problem. Could we work more closely with cross sector businesses and organisations to reinforce the message? We partnered with Aquafresh, GSK and the University of East Anglia in 2017 to see how behav- iour change theory could in™ uence a measured reduction in consumption. We found that using a recognisable landmark to demonstrate how much water was wasted when we keep the tap running whilst brushing our teeth resulted in a three per cent drop in consumption over two months. All great learning that can and should feed in to a national mes- sage, especially when the overarching call to action everywhere is 'use less'. And what's more encouraging is seeing big businesses starting to listen. While we're engaging with these sectors on using less, let's open up the opportunity to address as many issues as possible. One area I would really like to see change in is around bottled water being sold by restaurants and fast food establishments. How can we reignite people's passion for the tap and at the same time help to eradicate more plastic waste? The Re ll campaign, which encourages consum- ers to ll their reusable bottle for free at designated food outlets, has proven itself, saving over 100 million bottles from land ll. It's a logical assumption that we could have greater success in changing behaviour if there was one voice and message, no matter where you live or who provides your water. The calls for the water industry to work collaboratively are louder than ever, and we're doing this through a variety of means including the public interest commitments we made in April 2019. Waterwise's Water Eœ ciency Strategy provides a solid building block to under- pin a joined-up approach. Its ambition to set a blueprint for what the world could look like if we work together to deliver water eœ ciency is the klaxon we need to push ourselves to collaborate in new ways. Now is the time to think diŸ erently, question ourselves and, most impor- tantly, work together for the greater good. Let's understand the support we can gain through our networks and the scale of stakeholders who could get behind this message with us. Innovation is about learning, changing, adapting and modifying and we need to start looking at everything diŸ erently. Its's never been more important to be united ¢ WATER COMPANY VIEW Anglian Water's head of innovation engagement Shaunna Berendsen explains why water companies should get behind a united narrative to reduce water consumption. Is there more we can do to share a single narrative around water saving? "It's a logical assumption that we could have great- er success in changing behaviour if there was one voice and message."