Jobs

My role here at SES Water is to detect and pinpoint any leaks using various listening equipment, including my ear! In doing this I raise jobs for our field teams to attend to fix any leak detected and also go and assist them with any issues that may occur.

A typical day starts with making sure I always know which area of our supply area I will be working in. I then work out where the points of interest are in terms of leaks and raise jobs for the field teams to attend to. 

What I enjoy most about my role is the investigation side. You need to pinpoint the exact spot where the leak may be, and I find the equipment we use to help us do this fascinating. As each leak is repaired and the data on our systems back at HQ updates, it feels very rewarding!

It sounds strange but the thing I find most challenging about my role is actually...cars. When you're listening into a particular road and it is busy with traffic, it can be quite difficult to hear any leaks. However, that's when it's best to use the over night technology we have - when the roads are quieter. 

I've only been in my current role for a short while but in that time I've had the pleasure of meeting and helping a number of our customers. The first job I raised sticks in my mind. I had spoken to a customer about turning off their water for a short period of time and then explained the process I was about to do. They were very thankful that I checked with them first rather than just turning off their water. Communication is always key!

I'm one of the Section Managers managing the SES Water Repair & Maintenance teams and am responsible for many things including organising and working out complex traffic management for areas we are working in.

A typical day for me starts with waking up and first checking in with our Control room to see what activity took place during the night and to see if any emergency jobs need doing. I then drive to our head office in Redhill and plug in my electric company car to charge. My teams start at 7:30am so we discuss the day's work before catching up on emails and a few bits of admin. Some days we will have further team meetings later in the morning. Afterwards I usually head out to look at some of the work we are doing, especially any that require specialist traffic management. Throughout the day I meet my teams and carry out site audits. Some days I will have site meetings with key stakeholders such as local authorities.

I do enjoy the unpredictable nature of Repair & Maintenance - every day is different and throws up its own challenges which I like. You certainly have to be good at juggling many things at once, and from all directions!

I recall one time where a customer had no water due to a leak on a mains pipe. The main was situated in the middle of the road and needed a road closure to carry out the work. There were approximately 10 houses beyond where we needed to dig as it was a cul-de-sac. To get the work started quickly so the customer could get their water supply back, I spoke to all the residents to tell them what was happening and that their neighbour had no water. All the residents were very helpful and moved their vehicles past where we needed to dig. The customer was very grateful and pleased about the timely manner we got their supply back to normal.

I work in a team that measures how much leakage there is in our supply area and monitor trends so we can identify leaks quickly for our Leakage Detection Technicians to find. I ensure the quality of the data we collect from the water network is good. This is important as we need to have visibility of where water is being used and where it is going missing. If I can identify a burst quickly using data, I can minimise disruption to customers. There are many ways SES Water is trying to reduce leakage and one of my responsibilities is to use data analysis to measure how successful schemes are.

The first thing I will do on a typical day is check if we have had any alarms for burst water pipes. Then I calculate the leakage figure which involves checking hundreds of pieces of flow and pressure data to make sure the figure I report is accurate. I'll make a cup of tea and have a meeting over MS Teams with another Asset Intelligence Analyst where we will discuss data analysis and projects we are currently working on. I might end the day with collating data for a data request. 

Something I find challenging about my role is data issues. Data issues are inevitable because the logging technology that collect data from across the water network lives in a harsh environment - in cold, wet chambers in the ground. When we have a data issue we lose visibility of the flow and pressure at that point which makes it harder to identify when a burst main has occurred or a customer's pressure is lower than normal. It's really important to us that they are resolved quickly but it's a pain when it happens! 

What I like most about my role is that my main purpose is to reduce water being wasted. This has a positive impact on the environment and our customers, which is very rewarding!

As a Business Transition & Change Lead I need to have a good understanding of how our customer focused activities impact the business. I work closely with stakeholders across the business to increase engagement and communications on specific pieces of work. Most recently helping to launch our new customer billing system.

I will look at trends in the demands on our IT team, questions being asked and areas where we need to support our teams do the best job they can. I am always communicating with others across the business so good people skills are vital in this role.

I love the collaboration that comes with my role, especially working with lots of different people around the business to help the Company be the best it can be for our customers.

Change is often not something that everyone is comfortable with so trying to help everyone adapt to change isn’t always easy. I’ve found the best way to overcome this is by really focusing my approach for each person and finding out ‘what is in it for you and our customers?’

We have recently embarked on one of the biggest changes the Company has ever seen by launching our new customer billing system. As part of this launch one activity was to review all of our correspondence with customers. I managed the re-writing of these letters to ensure they were clear to read and all had the same tone. We then tested these in the new system to ensure they were sent out correctly. As a result, we now only send customers letters we need to and they are much more easy to read when they arrive in the post.

I am one of two Sections Managers for the Inspector team at SES. We are responsible for maintaining the network and taking care of customers for any enquiries they have that require us to attend. This can include responding to any incidents like burst main pipes, water supply interruptions and water quality issues. We can go from anything like a meter read or locating a stopcock for a customer, to a burst main causing flooding, damage and hundreds of homes without water.  

Most mornings will start with me checking the out of hours report to see if any of my team have been out working late, as this will affect how I plan the day. Once I have done this I will then start to schedule the day's work for my team. This includes fixed appointments and Inspector Enquiry Forms (IEF). An IEF can be anything from a trip hazard to a burst main. It could also be a new main pipe that will need flushing, which is where we flush water through our pipes at high speed to stir up and remove any natural sediment that has built up inside them. It could also include sampling or shutting down a main pipe for a repair or new main connection, assisting with reservoir cleaning. Once I have scheduled the work I will then go around and visit some of my team – assist them with any jobs they may require extra help with.

The thing I like the most about my job is the unpredictability – my day can change with one phone call. We can go from business as usual to full incident in an instant.

The most challenging aspect of my job is keeping everyone happy. We carry out work for almost every part of the business, so trying to plan everything in to suit everyone’s schedules, all while dealing with emergencies, can be very challenging. We always try our best to make sure everyone gets our help when they need it but unfortunately it's not always possible and we have to prioritise on urgency.

I have been out for two nights this week flushing mains in Morden, in preparation for work to save water leakage. This was done at night to reduce the risk of customers having discoloured water supplies and also to avoid causing any traffic issues, as some work had to be done in the road. Although the customers of Garth Road will probably never know we were out.

As a Water Quality sampler I carry out a variety of tasks. Most of my time is spent taking water quality samples of different types. This could be taking a routine sample from a kitchen tap at a customer’s property, taking samples from one of our service reservoirs or taking catchment samples from set points along the River Eden. I also ensure samples taken from our treatment works reach the lab for one of our laboratory analysts to test. The sampling is mostly done in the morning so the afternoons are spent planning the team’s work or other admin tasks.

Every day is slightly different. I could start by travelling to one of our treatment works to collect samples. Then head out again to take samples from customer properties. One day this could be heading up to Morden and Carshalton, on another I could be over in Lingfield, Edenbridge and Horley. Other days I could be taking the weekly samples from some of our service reservoirs.

What I enjoy most about my role in the Company is the friendly faces I meet along the way, be that staff at the different sites or the customers I meet while out sampling their property. Also, as we need to take samples from all areas across the Company area I get to see some lovely locations that I wouldn't otherwise come across.

What I find most challenging about the role is dealing with bad weather conditions. This can make the day quite tough. Getting to our service reservoirs can become a mission as these could be down muddy tracks or single track country lanes. Sample Taps may be frozen due to cold weather.  Rain can also be a problem as we spend a lot of time knocking on doors and nobody wants to let a soggy, dripping person in!Traffic can also make the day tough, as we need to drive to each job. All of this then puts the team behind if we are unable to complete all of our jobs.

Recently when sampling at one of our service reservoirs a customer approached me and made me aware they had low water pressure which they hadn't had before. I took details and reported this to the relevant department to get the matter looked into. All in a day's work!

My role at SES Water is two-fold. Firstly, to support our customers when things may not go to plan. My team and I are here to listen to our customers, find the right solutions and then ensure the business learns from these experiences. Secondly, I’m also here to pre-empt possible situations and proactively address them so our customers have a positive experience when dealing with us.

My days are extremely varied and there is never a dull moment! I can be speaking with a customer one moment then supporting on various projects the next. I’m lucky I have the opportunity to work with all areas of the business to find solutions to problems, creating communications, and generally being the voice of the customer and representing them to ensure they are always at the centre of each decision made.

In my role I really enjoy making a difference and knowing I’m able to support such a variety of people. I also have the opportunity to take sometimes challenging situations and turn these into positive outcomes. It’s a privilege to be entrusted with such a role.

Albeit not a common occurrence, there are times when every effort to make good of a situation, the outcome for the customer is not what they had hoped for and it’s never nice to be faced with this. However, I do see these as learning opportunities to ensure such circumstances are treated with equal importance and are fed back to the business as we always strive to be better.

Recently a customer had been billed for high water use, which was not in line with their expected use. I took personal responsibility to ensure we followed the correct processes to establish why this may be the case and kept the customer informed at every stage. These things can take time and this can be a worry for some. Communication is key as well as making sure the customer understood time frames and knew what to expect along the way.

The result was a happy customer who felt confident we had found a solution.

I am one of two HR Business Partners and our roles are to support employees so they can work effectively and provide them with all the help they need.

There’s no real typical day for us as it can be a very reactive job. I spend a lot of time with others in meetings, supporting employees with difficulties or helping managers plan for their teams. I also spend time making sure our HR offerings and activities are fit for our employees and work for the ever-changing nature of the business.

I really enjoy the interaction with our employees and the variety the role of HR Business Partner brings. I look after the Wholesale department and our business support departments, so I’m really enjoying learning about how the different functions work, but also how they interact with each other.

The most challenging thing about my role is balancing the time spent speaking with people, with the time needed to develop our strategy and research improved practices. There can be some emotive issues to deal with that require care and compassion. It’s hard for people to balance their personal lives with their professional lives but I hope SES Water gets that balance right when supporting our people through difficulties.

In HR our customers are our colleagues, who in turn help our customers. I’d like to think helping our employees remain happy and healthy at work puts them in the best place to support our customers!

As a Network Advisor I deal with queries regarding all aspects of the SES Water network and I help customers understand what might be going on with their water. Our customers might call as they have no water – or too much (in the case of leaks). People might also report water flooding the road or a problem with our road works. Some people have questions and worries about the wholesomeness of their water. In my role I need to know about every part of SES and decide how best to deal with queries and, critically, who can help sort the issue.

Our phone lines are lively and each call can present something quite different – there is no typical day! Fortunately, I can talk for England, so I am in my natural habitat taking calls and speaking for most of the day!

I love that when the phone rings, our customers can present a whole variety of interesting issues. I see each call as a puzzle to be solved and I take pride in being able to find the answer. This job can be a real work-out for the brain and there is always plenty going on. There’s never a boring day. I get to liaise with lots of different people within SES and the knowledge and skill of our engineers and scientists blows me away. I joke that I hope to gain their knowledge via osmosis!

It can be stressful for people when things go wrong with their water and it’s sad sometimes to hear people’s distress. It’s good to make things better and be able to take some of that stress away.

We can sometimes have several emergencies at any one time and we have to prioritise. Sometimes it’s difficult as we want to be there for everyone as quickly as possible.

Before working for SES, I had no idea how fascinating the water industry is. In my head I imagine all the pipes and joints and valves along our network, the equipment at the water treatment works and so on. I think about how things could go wrong at any point, but SES keeps the water flowing always. If I didn’t believe the science, I’d swear this was a small miracle being performed at every property. I get a big kick out of being a part of this process.

I really enjoy chatting with our customers and it’s so satisfying when I can help put things right.

I work as a Purchase Ledger Assistant which means I make sure all our suppliers are paid correctly. This could be anything from new materials to improve our network or office supplies to help the Company run smoothly.

For me, a typical day will involve me processing various types of invoices, dealing with queries on payments or costs of products from suppliers and general admin work to keep our processes up to date.

The best thing about my role would be my team. We all get along so well and work great together to reach our objectives for each day.

The most challenging thing is making sure we resolve queries as quickly as possible so our deadline for the job isn’t delayed. Some can take a little longer than others while we do some research and find the answer.

I recently dealt with an issue where an account was on hold which caused a colleague difficulty buying goods. I contacted the supplier to discuss the issue and found out our payments weren’t allocated on the supplier’s systems correctly. The supplier quickly resolved this problem and it meant we could complete our purchase.

I am a part of a newly formed team called Asset Strategy, and my role is Asset Optimisation Lead. I am currently working on a project called DMA Asset Health - this is where we check the condition of our water main pipes and how much useful life they have left, as well as how we can prolong the life of the pipes and help reduce our leakage.

My day usually starts with making sure I have a coffee...followed by checking my emails. At the moment I’m looking at projects for 2022/23. This is where I have a large printout of each District Metered Area (DMA) in Headley, Salfords, Boxhill, Tower Hill, Tyrrells Wood and Robbing Gate, and check to see what mains we need to look at next (mains that were laid in 1989 and older).

The part I enjoy the most about my role is the amount of planning that goes into each project. It does take a while from start to finish but the results speak for themselves, when leakage is proven to fall, it gives me a real sense of achievement.

The challenge is getting these DMAs fully optimised. A lot of work goes into this and it's important we have a good relationship with other field teams across the business. In time this will only make the process smoother and results coming in quicker.

This project really is beneficial to the environment and customer. By knowing the state of the water main, we can prolong its life and avoid having to repair or replace it, which can cause disruption to our customers. Saving on leakage is crucial as we are in a water stressed part of the UK and every drop we can save, counts.