While we strive to deliver a continuous drinking water supply, unfortunately there are times when this is not always possible.
This could be because we are undertaking planned maintenance on the network or there has been a supply emergency such as a burst pipe.
We know interruptions can be distressing, particularly for our customers in vulnerable situations. This is why we want to make sure we’re providing them with the best service possible when these instances occur, for example, by providing tailored communications or delivering bottled water to their home if they have mobility issues.
We issue surveys each year to those customers on our Priority Services Register who have been impacted by an interruption for more than three hours to understand how satisfied they were with the service they received.
We surveyed customers in 2019/20 to provide a baseline score, the performance in this survey was 3.6. We committed to performing 0.1 better each year during the 2020/25 period. Therefore, our target for the year was to score 3.9 out of five.
How have we performed?
In 2022/23 we achieved a score of 3.3 out of five, which was a 0.1 improvement from last year, but we underachieved our target by 0.6.
The specificity of the customer group eligible for this survey does result in low participation rates. Throughout 2022/23 there were only 134 surveys undertaken. This is about 50 more than last year. Of these customers, 40 (30 per cent) undertook the survey in January 2023, following a major freeze/thaw incident. Prior to these surveys our tracking score was 3.45.
In the past, we would deliver by priority group which was dependent on vulnerability (High, Medium and Low). We now include all priority groups for immediate delivery, unless they have advised that they can collect from a bottled water station. These customers are then contacted either by SMS or telephone to inform them where the bottled water stations are, asked if their circumstance have changed and, if so, do they now need water delivered.
