The Consumer Council for Water (CCW) has awarded a contract for market research into consumer focused smart metering journeys.

CCW has appointed a market research agency to provide qualitative and potentially quantitative research services to:

• Understand experiences of the household customer journey to smart metering for different household segments
• Understand what an ideal journey would look like for different segments

Within the journey, consider the delivery of the smart metering process itself, including, but not limited to:

• information provision (what, when and how) and practical support for consumers such as help for low-income households
• water saving advice
• awareness of supply pipe responsibility and water company leakage policies.

The consumer watchdog are also looking to explore awareness of the context in which universal metering schemes are currently happening. CCW would like to identify what consumers see as legitimate reasons for rolling out smart metering programmes (e.g. water resources/environmental drought, cost of different ways of ensuring there is sufficient water for now and the long term)

At high-level, CCW also want to gauge consumer sentiment to the potential to use variable tariffs to help manage water use at peak times of day and in the summer.

The research will mainly be conducted with household water bill-payers in England and Wales, in areas which reflects a mix of water companies, and water resource contexts.

Inm addition, for some research objectives it may be appropriate, where meaningful, to include future bill-payers.

Blue Marble Research Ltd will be conducting the research over a two month period on behalf of CCW – contract start and end dates are 13 February 2026 to 30 April 2026.