WWT ROUND TABLE 2009
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Water industry needs
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co-ordinated approach
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Classified sales
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n 13 May 2009, explained the classic problem with utility
at the Institute regulation: install meters now and drive up
of Directors, customers’ bills in the short term, but don’t
adam.jeffery@fav-house.com
London, 10 high-level install meters and risk the social and cost
Team administrator
water industry panelists implications of either large land take for new
Clare Klos – 020 8651 7121
applied their collective reservoirs and/or shortages of supply. The
clare.klos@fav-house.com
expertise and experience review currently being undertaken by Anna
Editorial co-ordinator
Sarah Owens – 020 8651 7108
to this year’s WWT Round Table topic: “How Walker will address this among other things.
sarah.owens@fav-house.com
can water companies engage consumers to Metering – both smart and standard –
Design & production manager
achieve a sustainable water strategy?” occupied a large part of the debate. The
Luana Marca The proceedings, which can be found on government’s view is that we will need
Production controller the following pages of this special universal metering in water stressed areas by
Mike Smith – 020 8651 7105 supplement, provide a valuable insight into at least 2013. Stephen Bird of South West
mike.smith@fav-house.com
current thinking on the subject and a Water, however, argued for full meter
Publisher
distillation of the major barriers and penetration across the country coupled with
Angela Himus – 020 8651 7164
opportunities facing the industry as a whole. varying price signals to address social as well
angela.himus@fav-house.com
What can water companies, in partnership as environmental needs. “The advantage of a
with government, Ofwat and DWI, the meter is that it becomes personal… and until
wwt@fav-house.com
Environment Agency and the Consumer it becomes personal, tinkering with abstraction
www.wwt-magazine.info Council, do to ensure they bring customers licences or encouraging the industry to be
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change consumers’ behaviour was the that compulsory metering was needed but
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starting point for discussions. Water has been with a social tariff to protect the customers
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seen by many as an infinite, self-renewing who were the least well off. He made a
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this perception would take concerted and rateable value system to metering.
accuracy of material published in Water &
co-ordinated action by all the industry All the panelists agreed that the message
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Group Ltd will not be liable for any inaccuracies. The stakeholders. to consumers had to be moved beyond one
views expressed by contributors are not necessarily
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Before progress could be made, the simply about price. A better appreciation of
cover stock are printed on PEFC accredited paper. industry would have to overcome the the value of water was going to be key to
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fundamental misconception that we live in a winning consumers over when it comes to
more appearing in this journal are indexed by British wet country, not to mention the belief in using less water, according to Stephen Bird.
Technical Index.
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some quarters that water companies are just Saving 20p by using less water may not
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jumping on the environmental band-wagon mean much to a customer, but catching
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to justify pushing the prices up. A one-size- salmon in the Thames might. He called for
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fits-all approach to communication would more creative thinking about the whole
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fail, the panel agreed, and differentiated value proposition for water.
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messaging would be needed to take into These, and many other ideas, were
Publisher’s note:
account different social backgrounds and discussed during the debate and the Round
This issue includes editorial photographs provided and
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geographical locations. Table clearly showed there is no shortage of
Working on behaviour change was expertise and willingness to engage
Online:
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laudable, said Defra’s Martin Hurst, but consumers to achieve a sustainable water
products and services, events, software, publications
without the proper price signals it would strategy, and that, in general, the industry
and training.
under-achieve. We do not pay the full shares a common purpose. What was still
For free access, visit www.edie.net environmental cost of water, so getting needed, however, was a more co-ordinated
marginal costs right while keeping average approach by the industry as a whole to plug
costs down would go some way to sending some of the communication and policy gaps
the right signals to customers. to ensure that we bring sustainable water
The government also needed to take a supply as a whole, into focus. ■■■
longer-term view of the industry, he said, Angela Himus, publisher
and 25 years may be too short. He Natasha Wiseman is on leave
June 2009 Round Table 3