We’re working with our partners at Newcastle University, National Energy Action, Procter & Gamble and Northern Gas Networks on a project called ‘FairWater’.
The project, which has been partly funded through the Ofwat Water Breakthrough Challenge, is aimed at helping our customers to save water and energy, which can help lower bills and their reduce carbon footprint.
Many everyday tasks we carry out around our homes, such as washing the dishes, doing the laundry or taking a bath or shower, use both energy and water. If we are going to reduce the amount of water and energy that we use, then we will need to find different ways of carrying out these tasks, perhaps by using different products or devices installed in our homes, or simply through making small changes to our behaviour. However, we realise that not everyone wants to compromise between their water and energy use and, for example, how clean their clothes are, or their enjoyment of a bath or shower. We also realise that no two individuals are the same, or use their energy and water in the same way, or have the same choices when it comes to fitting water and energy saving products into their home.
This is why we’re working with our partners on the FairWater project, to develop solutions tailored to individual circumstances and characteristics. We want everyone, regardless of their circumstances, to be able to participate in the journey to net zero, and will outline what we’re calling ‘customer transition pathways’ which suggest the most effective ways to do so, with the minimum disruption to our customers’ lives. For this to be a success, we need to work hand-in-hand with our customers, to learn about how they currently use water and energy in their homes and then to find, test and, if necessary, create, solutions that really work for an individual household to reduce their water and energy consumption.
To help us with this, we’re recruiting 400 customers to our customer panel. The panel will be asked to engage with us in a series of activities over the course of the project. This might be as simple as completing some online questionnaires, or joining some focus groups, or it could even be testing some of the water and energy saving solutions in your home. You may have received a letter or email from us inviting you to take part; the first step is to complete a straightforward expression of interest survey. Not all households that express their interest will be invited to take part, but all will be entered into a free prize draw. If you are selected to take part, we will be in touch with more information and to discuss which activities we’d like you to get involved in.
The FairWater project is making use of the Northern Gas Networks Customer Energy Village, and some of our customer panel will get the opportunity to visit it as part of their engagement. A similar project, focused on energy efficiency, is being run alongside FairWater, with some of our project team involved. You can find out more about this here.
With this research, we hope to benefit customers across England and Wales with reduced household bills and carbon impact, thanks to reduced use in water and energy. We’d love for you to be a part of it.
For more information, or to express an interest in taking part in this research, please contact ResearchTeam@nea.org.uk