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UTILITY WEEK | 10TH - 16TH JULY 2015 | 17 Operations & Assets Julian West, product manager at Trelleborg's pipe seals operation, said: "The correct design of the seal within a concrete pipe is vital for its installa- tion into the pipe and its placement into the ground. If the seal is not designed to the right rubber stiffness, it can compress under pressure when being fixed." If you have an asset or project you would like to see featured in this slot, email: paul.newton@fav-house.com Pipe up Jacob Tompkins T his column is supposed to be about proper civil works stuff – digging, hard hats, strong tea and concrete – but increasingly the boundaries are blurring. There is a growing overlap between physical works, technology and customer engagement. "Keeping the public fully informed" is one of the National Joint Utilities Group's seven measures of excellence for street- works. Perhaps we should go even further than that and say they need to be re-envisioned as an opportunity for active customer engagement. The streetworks app developed by Severn Trent provides customers with information on location and timing of streetworks. It also explains why the works are being done and what the benefits are. However, the clever bit is that it introduces the staff doing the work by name with a picture and how they like their tea, turning the works from an inconvenience carried out by a face- less utility into service improvements by real people. During its meter rollout, Southern Water informed residents of works weeks in advance via leaflets that turned into pop-up cubes, via social media and by colourful lamppost banners. Staff training ensured that everyone was prepared for customers' questions and could promote the scheme. Alongside the dirty boots bit of digging the pits and installing the meters was another set of staff who could provide water efficiency devices and tips and, if necessary, advise on household benefits to offset any potential cost increases due to the meter. These elements were not separate but were integrated, which is crucial. The Irish Water experience illustrates the pitfalls of not planning customer engagement alongside your civil works. The company is in the process of compul- sory metering and, at the same time, charges are being introduced to a public used to free water. The civil works side has worked fine, but the lack of sufficient customer engagement led to protests in Dublin and the Garda having to accompany meter installers in many places. So it is crucial to engage customers in civil works and perhaps even to use them to help deliver the works. This may sound insane and conjure up images of local residents chipping in half an hour with a pneumatic drill each evening, but in Singapore the Public Utilities Board has handed over many assets to local communities. Perhaps this is a step too far for the UK, but surely we can integrate civil streetworks and customer engagement as standard practice? Jacob Tompkins, managing director, Waterwise "Streetworks need to be re-envisioned as an opportunity for active customer engagement" "There is a growing overlap between physical works, technology and customer engagement"