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When Southern Water, which serves over one million households in Kent, Hampshire, Sussex and the Isle of Wight, announced that meters would be introduced into 92 per cent of customers' homes by 2015, it knew the move could prove unpopular.

Just 40 per cent of households, predominantly new homes, currently have water meters in Southern Water's catchment area, but from June, up to 300 meters will be fitted every day in households in Medway, North Sussex and South Hampshire.

More than 60,000 households will be fitted with meters in the first year and metering is now an essential part of Southern Water's plans to manage demand for water over the next 25 years. Customers on a meter tend to use about ten per cent less water than those on a fixed charge, but scare stories about metering are as widespread as burst water mains, and Southern Water knew customers would fear bills would spiral.

From experience Southern Water knew that the average household bill for water and sewage fell by £75 to £325 following metering, but it also estimated that 45 per cent of households currently without meters would experience a rise in their bills once they were installed.

To assuage fears, the water company pledged that nobody would pay more in the first year after a meter was installed and that financial assistance would be made available to vulnerable people, but the focus of its communications programme has been on educating customers.

Geoff Loader, director of communications at Southern Water, explains that the programme highlights how only heavy water users will be negatively impacted following the installation of meters and has focussed on educating customers on reducing consumption.

Southern Water has also taken the radical approach of highlighting the link between water use and energy bills - emphasising that saving one will, by definition, save on the other. Working with the Energy Saving Trust, Southern Water established that 20 per cent of gas and electricity costs are directly attributed to water usage. 'If people showered for one minute less every day then they would save £15 a year on water and energy costs,' adds Loader. 'In a four person household, that adds up to £60. About £200 of a household's average gas and electricity bills are associated with water.' The campaign is entitled Save water. Save energy. Save money.

Philip Sellwood, chief executive of the Energy Saving Trust, said: 'In many ways, water is the forgotten energy wastage in a house - 89 per cent of energy wasted in providing water to a home takes place in the home itself, as opposed to treatment and pumping.'

Information from each water meter feeds directly to Southern Water on a real-time basis. Customers receive a special log in code, which allows them to monitor their water usage on Southern Water's website and check out new tips on reducing consumption.

Fluid design

Southern Water also worked with the Design Council on a groundbreaking initiative to use design to reduce domestic water consumption.

'Most bills are in blue and white or red and white,' explains Loader. 'But research shows that people associate green with good and purple with not so good. This particularly resonates with children.' The Design Council incorporated Southern Water's Mr Save-It, a character based on a water butt that has been used in advertising campaigns, into its billing designs.

Mr Save-It now reacts to an individual household's bill. For example, if water usage is within an acceptable level, Mr Save-It will have a big 'thumbs up' on the bill. But if the bill is purple (as in heavy usage), Mr Save-It will offer a tip on saving water - for example, using a bowl to wash up twice a day rather than leaving a hot tap running, which could save £25 a year in gas bills. 'It is quite a radical approach,' says Loader, who concedes that the cartoon character also gets children on board. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, Southern Water has also launched a scheme to engage school children and educate them on water consumption.

Tapping into kids

Working with a theatre company, Southern Water has created a 45 minute play featuring the wasteful Drip family, who use mime and comic masks, to encourage water conservation for pupils aged between seven and 11. Parents running water while brushing their teeth, now hear plaintive cries from children pleading with them to turn off the taps.

Together with the Design Council, Southern Water has also launched the 'Water Design Challenge', which brings designers together with students to help them come up with viable ideas to reduce their schools' water consumption. (A large secondary school can spend up to £20,000 on water bills.)

Special characters have been created to educate students  on water and where it comes from and to help them calculate how much is used by their schools using a special online footprint calculator.

Children have also been used in the campaign; three actors star in a two minute film based on an airline's safety announcement that features on Southern Water's website.

Starting with the phrase This is a no water wastage house. The 'no water wastage' sign will remain on, the actors highlight ways water is wasted in the manner of an air stewardess. For example, they demonstrate how to turn off a dripping tap (which costs £25 every year) just as an air stewardess would show how to fasten and unfasten seat belts. 'It is just another way to engage with our customers and show them how to save water and money,' says Loader.

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