A SMART approach to water conservation for South East Water

In 2017, Advizzo began working with South East Water (SEW) on a behavioural science-based customer engagement programme. Over the course of the three years, the programme has successfully achieved a significant water saving across the customer base involved. SEW was keen to explore whether further water efficiency gains could be achieved with a new engagement programme working with Advizzo that specifically targets its customers with smart meters installed.

Drivers for change

SEW supplies water to 2.2m people in the South East of England. Like all regulated water companies in the UK, SEW has customer driven targets to reduce household consumption.

Advizzo has been working with SEW to achieve its reduction in water usage target with a three year customer engagement programme. The programme involves sending personalised Water Use Reports to bill payers, designed specifically to drive new behaviours that will reduce water consumption through personal feedback related to household water usage.  Now, through a partnership with Xylem, a leading global water technology company, Advizzo has been asked to turn its attention to SEW’s smart meter customers.

A SMART approach to reducing water usage

Our new programme builds on SEW’s own trials to understand the benefits of smart meters in reducing water consumption and in building operational efficiency gains.

To demonstrate the viability of a behavioural science approach to customer engagement, Advizzo will send monthly Water Use Reports to a random group of 1,500 SEW customers with smart meters. The programme will take a Sequential Multi-Assignment Randomisation Trial (SMART) approach. This involves splitting the customers into three groups. Each group will receive a different treatment (type of report) monthly based on their usage. Results will be monitored and if progress (i.e. water reduction) is achieved, then the treatment will remain the same. If the treatment is not having the desired effect, then an alternative treatment (report) will be trialled until optimal results are achieved and water consumption is reduced across the group.

Advizzo and SEW are keen to understand whether a SMART approach results in Per Capita Consumption (PCC) savings versus a control group, and whether a specific intervention works better for a specific sub-set of customers. Of course, we are also excited to see if we can build on the previous reduction figures that we have already achieved for SEW.

If you would like to know more about our customer engagement programmes for utility companies, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to solving critical water and infrastructure challenges with technological innovation. Our more than 16,000 diverse employees delivered revenue of $5.25 billion in 2019. We are creating a more sustainable world by enabling our customers to optimise water and resource management, and helping communities in more than 150 countries become water-secure. Join us at www.xylem.com/uk.