Water has gone from being a cheap and bountiful commodity to a resource that’s under threat, with companies raising bills to meet urgent demand to overhaul and rebuild ageing infrastructure.

Charlotte Glass of Gentrack emphasises the need for a fresh approach: "We must shift our thinking on water consumption; overlooking it will no longer be viable. If the UK were to face a water outage, it could lead to significant public concern – yet awareness of this potential issue remains limited."

Smart meters are already enabling better understanding and monitoring of usage, which is helping companies such as Anglian Water to experiment with seasonal tariffs. Looking into the future, there is also the possibility of introducing time of use tariffs for water, says Pete Holland. “If you think about the electricity demands of pumping water, for example, it costs different amounts to move water around at different times of the day,

“Could you make that activity cost-reflective for consumers? Yes, you could – although it’s not the easiest thing to do.”

But he thinks strategies that combine energy and water data will be crucial in encouraging efficiency. “We have just started work on a project that is aiming to open up smart meter data. I do think we will start mixing energy and water data, and if you join them together and show people the correlation, there is a much bigger behavioural lever to pull.

“That, I think, is the evolution we will go through.”

Matt Rouse, head of the Gentrack water business unit, believes sustainability-oriented tariffs could be introduced that reflect the energy consumption involved in pumping water. “Water usage could be combined with energy-efficient times for running pumping stations,” he says. “These types of greener tariff would combine information from both the energy and water industries.”[BH1]

But for tariff innovation like this to succeed, it will require not just engagement with customers but also technology that supports a wide range of pricing structures. “Antiquated systems where you can’t dynamically switch between tariffs for the customer can be problematic,” says Glass. “Capturing customer information and keeping it updated and relevant is one way to ensure and increase engagement between water company and customer – making sure they are actually being billed on their current circumstances reduces complaints and inaccuracies.”

She adds: “To do this, you need systems that understand these concepts and are designed to handle them accurately and efficiently, for both the customer and end user.”

A customer 360-view, which allows agents to see all information, including customer data, billing information and tariffs from one screen, enables the agent to to service them efficiently and effectively. Building automation on top allows agents to focus on what's most important ­– engagement with the customer. "This concept has been front-and-centre for companies like Gentrack, and with the ever-increasing range of channels and technology, must remain a key focus."