When it comes to water supply – France is in dire straits. It has just experienced its driest winter for more than 60 years. In fact in February it recorded a winter record of 32 consecutive days without rain.1 This means that groundwater supplies have not been replenished as they normally would in winter and two thirds of the country’s rivers are below normal water levels. The lack of snow in the Alps, which saw a delayed start to the ski season, will also mean less meltwater in the late spring and early summer, which is an important factor in replenishing groundwater supplies in the east.
To address the severe shortage of rain over the winter, Christophe Béchu, France’s environment minister held an emergency meeting with local authorities, where he told the country “we should be alarmed“. This winter’s water shortage risks plunging the country into another punishing drought this summer. Last summer saw water restrictions in place across virtually the whole of France, while in some communes the tap water ran out altogether. The country also saw devastating wildfires, especially in the south, where parched land became a tinderbox.
In order to try and avoid another catastrophic summer drought, Béchu urged local authorities to immediately begin putting in place anti-drought measures. He also called on everyone to consider how they could cut their water use.
Four of France’s departments, namely Isère, Bouches-du-Rhône, Var and Pyrénées-Orientales, are already subject to restrictions and under reinforced vigilance. Within these departments people are being asked not to water their garden plants during specific hours, not to fill swimming pools or wash cars, and farmers have been asked to reduce their usage by up to 50%.
The solution lies in municipalities educating their residents on water conservation – to make everyone aware of how much water they are using, and to provide tips and advice on water saving measures.
How we can help
For the last seven years Advizzo has been working with water companies across the globe, proving that our behavioral science based customer engagement programs can help achieve water use efficiency targets. We also work with energy suppliers to help customers reduce their energy usage.
Our Customer Engagement Programs combine an Saas platform with data science and behavioral science to engage with water and energy company customers through targeted behavioral messages and usage insights.
Our Programs are based on the tried and tested nudge theory – a behavioral science based technique that works by encouraging people to choose one option over another, simply by making it easier for them, without removing the element of choice. Discover how the nudge theory can help you improve your customers’ water use efficiency.
The findings of a recent assessment of customers engaged in Advizzo’s Customer Engagement Programs, demonstrate that providing utility customers with personalized water or energy saving tips and advice on how to reduce their consumption, motivates behavioral changes that can produce savings of up to 3% a year.
Our programs can help you to:
- Use data from water meters to identify excess water usage that might be attributable to leaks
- Encourage customers to change behaviors and habits to reduce their water consumption
- Provide useful tips and advice on water saving products and devices that are appropriate to individual households. We will use data and information provided through our home reports to target the right customers with the right messages – according to whether they have a garden, what water consuming appliances they use in the home, what their household income/budgets might be etc.
The results of our annual survey review, which is an assessment of customers engaged in one of our programs were incredibly encouraging:
- 90% of households completed our online survey – providing valuable detail and data relating to their homes. This data helps us drive more personalized saving tips and purchasing recommendations which will assist utilities in their decarbonization goals.
- 90% of respondents recalled receiving the Home Report.
- 37% said they’d gone as far as sharing their Reports with family and friends.
- 65% changed their behavior in order to reduce electricity and water consumption
- 87% of respondents said that as a result of our Home Reports, they had taken steps to reduce their energy and water consumption.
- 47% had seen a reduction in energy and water consumption in their next bill.
How will you help your customers to reduce their water consumption? And how will you identify domestic water leaks? We’d love to help you. Get in touch to find out how our Customer Engagement Programs can help your residents to reduce their water consumption.
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1https://www.thelocal.fr/20230221/rain-free-france-matches-record-31-day-dry-spell