Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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6 | FEBRUARY 2017 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk Comment T he clock is ticking, and it's now a matter of days rather than months until the new market for non-domestic water retail in England opens in April. A key moment and a sharp intake of breath for many in the industry; but are the 1.2 million business customers who make up the new market aware of it yet? Research suggests not, and the likelihood is that most SMEs in particular will reach April in blissful ignorance of the fact that they are now served by a new retail water supplier in a competitive marketplace. For those in the know, there have been newsworthy developments in the run-up to market opening. We have already seen one big retail joint venture between water companies – Severn Trent and United Utilities' Water Plus – while Scottish upstart Castle Water has grabbed attention by snapping up the Market makers customers from exiting Thames Water and Portsmouth Water. Meanwhile those incumbent water companies who have stayed in the market have been busy rebranding their retail vehicles with new names and logos (See pages 17-20 for our 'Who's Who' guide to the names and companies that will make up the new market). Nevertheless, as one industry commentator observed recently, the first time many SMEs will be aware of the changes will be when they receive a bill from a company they have never heard of before, at which point they may either phone up to complain or ignore it under the impression that it is a scam. However, even if the new market does get off to such an inauspicious start, it would be unfair to judge it from the first few days or weeks – it will take a year or two for an informative picture to emerge about the degree of savings, innovation and consumer choice that has developed. If the market leads to business customers becoming more engaged with their water, thinking about its value and their level of consumption as well as the water's cost, then this will be an achievement in it itself. Beyond this, one interesting trend to watch will be the extent to which James brockett eDItor JamesBrockett@fav-house.com Twitter: @wwtmag synergies start to appear between water retailers and energy suppliers, and what combined offerings may spring up. Receiving energy bills and water bills from the same company on a single bill has been cited as one of the potential cost efficiencies that could present itself. What's more, the advent of smart metering – in both energy and water – presents the opportunity for a nimble company to present the benefits of metering and efficiency as a joint ticket. As Professor Dragan Savic of Exeter University notes in our Industry Leader feature in this month's WWT (p14) many water efficiency measures also save energy because of the reduced energy involved in heating the water used. Up until now, water companies and energy companies have been working in silos and unable to target the customer with this combined benefit, but the new retail arrangements may allow some to pursue an altogether more joined-up approach. The beauty of new markets is that it is hard to predict where new ideas might come from, which players will emerge from nowhere and which will sink without trace. Watch this space. Naturally effective waste water treatment Biological Preparations has developed a comprehensive, technologically advanced range of powerfully effective waste degrading products for water treatment systems. 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