Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/705933
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | AUGUST 2016 | 17 delivering this strategy is to identify houses of high usage; not as easy as one might think, because water companies struggle to get hold of occupancy data. "You could be looking at two houses, both with 40% above the average usage, but one might have two people living in it and one might have six people living in it," says Earl. "From our perspective, it's the one with two people that's likely to have showers and toilets that are using more water than they should. So it's about how you then get in front of that customer, have that conversation, so they see the need for a visit and then actually get into that home to do that. It's not the easiest of journeys, and you don't always get those customers by putting out wide appeals for them to come to you." School and council partnerships Partnerships with local authorities, particularly Brighton & Hove City Council and Eastleigh Borough Council, have allowed Southern to prioritise visits to social housing tenants, where savings can make the most difference financially to the customer. The University of Sussex has been engaged to carry out a specific study on the difference water saving can make to social tenants in Brighton & Hove. In more affluent areas, where householders typically pay by direct debit and are less motivated by saving small amounts, alternative approaches have been tried, such as linking local water saving goals with attractive community projects and stressing environmental benefits. Southern has also been targeting primary schools in this AMP period, auditing and retrofitting as many of them as possible, and providing a package of curriculum materials - accredited by the Eco-Schools initiative - for teachers to educate the youngsters about the water cycle and the importance of saving water. Earl is proud of their approach which has allowed them to reach many more schools than previously because it has required buy-in from teachers for the educational element - a 'we will if you will' approach. Another innovation has been to incentivise developers to specify water-saving products in their new build properties by offering them a 50% discount on the company's infrastructure charge. Competitive priorities The efficiency programme is split into four areas - domestic, SMEs, schools and community, and with Southern already announcing that it will exit the non-domestic retail market with the onset of competition in 2017, there will inevitably need to be a "resetting of priorities" going forward, says Earl. So will competition be a help or a hindrance for water efficiency efforts in the water-stressed areas of the country? "If you look at the Scottish market, water efficiency has been an important part of the package on offer to customers," he says. "The retail margin is so small that those taking part in the services want a bit more from the providers, and water efficiency is one of those services that has been latched on to. Clearly all businesses want to cut their cost base. What isn't clear at the moment is how the suite of different services will pan out, and whether any of the retail arms will make more of a name for themselves by doing things differently. I think it's a really good opportunity, but it remains to be seen through this period of substantial change and upheaval how much water efficiency remains on the wholesale agenda for the water companies." Nevertheless, Earl is confident that Southern will be able to hit its efficiency targets, and in so doing, set a benchmark for what can be achieved by other water companies keen to build resilience by pursuing the same path of reducing consumption. • CV: Ben Earl ● A er completing a degree in Environmental Studies, Ben Earl spent over a decade working for environmental organisations including The Woodland Trust, the Earth Trust and the Forest Stewardship Council. ● Between 2008 and 2013 he worked for retailer B&Q, dealing with energy and water efficiency, sustainability policy and the company's response to government environmental initiatives. ● He was a member of South East Water's Customer Challenge Group in 2012-3, joining Southern Water in 2013 ● In his role at Southern he has collaborated with the five other south east water companies to set up 'Save Water South East', a jointly- funded group that helps communicate water saving messages to the public, in conjunction with Waterwise. ● He is the independent chair of Water Label, a steering group working towards universally- understood labelling of products making clear how much water they use ● He also chairs the Biosphere Delivery Board, a group delivering environment projects in Brighton & Hove, and Future South, a public-private sector initiative backed by 11 local authorities which promotes green projects ● He has advised the Liberal Democrats on environmental policy, writing a section of the party's 'Green Book'.