We launched a wide range of initiatives in 2010-11 to support our customers as we install about 500,000 water meters.

We worked with focus groups to develop a series of information packs, which are hand-delivered to households before and after the new meters are installed. In addition, we are working with the charity Groundwork to provide information and advice to customers at mobile exhibition units in the areas where meters are being fitted.

The majority of meters are installed in the public footpath and we are working with our contractors, Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions, and local councils to ensure our work is efficient, safe and has as little impact as possible on households. Where possible, we use the latest ‘no dig’ technology.

We launched a multi-lingual website with a host of information about the metering programme and water efficiency as well as a postcode checker for customers to find out when the programme is due to reach their area.

We set up a Metering Customer Contact Centre at our West Sussex headquarters to answer phone queries and we began a metering awareness campaign in newspapers and on radio and websites. Where possible, we put up street signs before our work started.

Our metering team met MPs, councillors, council officers and organisations – such as the police, Citizens Advice Bureaux, Age UK and community groups – to share information and work in partnership to support our customers.

The meters we are installing are the most advanced in the water industry with technology that enables us to read them remotely while driving along a street in a vehicle carrying specialist computer equipment. We can now read as many as 20,000 meters each day compared with 200 at present, putting an end to estimated bills.