How Cappagh Browne’s Community Canvassing Is Powering Southern Water’s Environmental Ambitions

A Collaborative Effort to Reduce Storm Overflows

The initiative brings Southern Water together with delivery partners and local authorities to tackle water pollution and reduce storm overflows through infrastructure improvements and surface water separation projects. As Chris Brown, CBUL Head of Communications and Customer explains, the overarching aim is “to reduce the amount of water entering the sewers and limit storm overflows” – a critical step in preventing wastewater networks from becoming overwhelmed during heavy rainfall.

A range of solutions work together to prevent rainwater from entering the combined sewer network. These include separating roof and surface water from the wastewater system, directing storm water into surface water sewers, and installing soakaways where appropriate. Each solution plays a role in reducing the volume of water entering the wastewater network.

Why Community Engagement Is Essential

The success of this programme relies on close collaboration with local residents. Because some of the work involves carrying out improvements within the boundaries of people’s homes, building trust, understanding and clear communication is especially important.

As Chris Brown notes, “Without community engagement, there is no programme. The scheme lives or dies based on customer consent.”

Our teams help support this by providing a comprehensive customer experience from initial conversations through to post-works satisfaction checks.

How Our Canvassing Model Works

1. Catchment-wide introduction

Each combined storm overflow area (CSO catchment) begins with a coordinated engagement programme including letter drops and community drop-in events where residents can speak directly with Southern Water and Cappagh Browne about the scheme and what it means for their area.

2. Door-to-door conversations

Our canvassing officers visit planned work areas to explain why we’re there, what surface water separation involves, and what it would look like for that specific property. These face-to-face conversations are proving essential:

“You need to physically have a conversation… explain the scheme, look at their property, and help them visualise the benefits.”

This personalised approach also includes sharing survey findings and demonstrating how their participation can reduce flooding, protect local networks, and support healthier rivers and seas.

3. Gaining customer consent

With dedicated consenting officers and liaison teams, we work street-by-street to build trust, answer concerns, and secure the level of participation required to make each catchment viable. So far, around 70% of the people we speak to choose to join the scheme, a strong endorsement of both the programme and the approach.

4. Continuous assurance and support

Once works begin, our customer teams carry out ongoing assurance visits to check cleanliness, signage, resident satisfaction and any emerging issues. As Chris Brown describes:

“We’ll knock on doors just to check people are OK… and at the end we ask how we did. If not 100% happy, we put it right.”

The result is real-time optioneering, a visible presence in the community, and a genuinely caring approach, including stepping in during resident welfare concerns, working with neighbours, and ensuring safeguarding where needed.

Across the scheme, our average customer satisfaction score is currently 8 out of 10.

Positive Engagement: A First for Utilities

One of the most innovative aspects of this campaign is that it flips the traditional model of utility engagement on its head. As Brown puts it:

“Traditionally, utilities engage when something’s gone wrong… This is completely different. It’s a positive engagement where residents voluntarily participate to make a real difference.”

This fresh approach is not only improving environmental outcomes, it’s strengthening trust between Southern Water, partners, and the communities we serve.

What We’ve Achieved So Far

The programme is already expanding rapidly:

• Successfully piloted in Hampshire, now operating across Kent, Sussex and Hampshire
• Thousands of door-knocks completed, with Hampshire alone exceeding 2,600 engagements so far
• 70% resident participation rate among those we speak with
• Strong customer satisfaction scores, averaging 8/10 across the programme

These figures reflect a campaign rooted not only in engineering excellence, but in genuine connection with the people who make the outcomes possible.

What’s Next: Scaling Up and Innovating Further

As Southern Water expands the Clean Rivers and Seas programme, our canvassing and community activities will scale alongside it. Innovation will play a major role, from the introduction of digital tools that help residents visualise work on their property to wider use of video explainers and social media to reach more people, more effectively.

The goal is clear: continue building momentum, deepen understanding, and empower more communities to participate in shaping a cleaner, more resilient water future.

A Shared Commitment to Environmental Progress

Through close partnership with Southern Water, Cappagh Browne is helping deliver one of the UK’s most ambitious pollution-reduction programmes, one built on collaboration, transparency and community trust.

Every conversation, every consent, every separated roof contributes directly to cleaner rivers and seas. And together, we’re helping ensure those benefits last for generations.