Water companies trusted to provide reliable service but not to protect the environment

Water companies keen to boost customer trust should reduce pollution, fix leaks and communicate better.

That was among the findings from CCW’s new research, Perceptions and trust in water companies, carried out by Yonder Consulting in February 2023 with over 2000 adults in England and Wales.

Asked what companies could do to increase trust, respondents named reducing pollution and fixing leaks as the top measures. CCW added that better communication is also key; that companies must tell their customers how they are spending their money to improve services and address the concerns they have on issues like enhancing and protecting the environment.

The survey found extraordinarily high (96%) levels of stated awareness of who provides their water services among respondents. General levels of trust in water companies was also high when it comes to providing reliable and sustainable services, but fewer than half of people (43%) trusted water companies to protect and enhance the environment.

When asked to describe their water company in their own words, people’s descriptions were more positive than negative – 46% and 34%, respectively. The findings were reversed when it came to perceptions of the water industry as a whole, with half having negative (50%) and a third having positive (34%) perceptions. Two-thirds (62%) of water consumers said their perception of their water company had not changed in the last year. However where it had changed, it tended to be for the worse (23%) with only 11% saying their perceptions had got better.