OREANDA-NEWS. Similarly to previous years, the year 2013 can be characterised by a consistent improvement of operational and quality indicators as best-ever water quality. Above all, it gives security to all consumers that they are provided with a high-quality drinking water, stable water supply and service of wastewater discharge. In addition to the quality of service, we also concentrate on being a good partner for our customers. In 2013, the customers' feedback on our work has been very positive and we continue making efforts so that our customer service would constantly keep improving. As our activities have a considerable effect both on the surrounding natural environment and wellbeing of the local community, we deem very important to pay attention to environmental and community related activities.

Operational indicators for 2013

Indicator

2012

2013

Drinking water

 Ѓ@ Ѓ@

Compliance of water quality at the customers tap

99,55 %

99,70 %

Water loss in the water distribution network

15,86%

16,98 %

Average duration of water interruptions per property

3,42 h

3,46 h

Wastewater

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Number of sewer blockages

715

762

Number of sewer bursts

120

139

Number of customer contacts regarding floodings, blockages and storm water

1239

1405

Wastewater treatment compliance with environmental standards

100 %

100 %

Customer Service

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Number of written complaints

152

118

Number of customer contacts regarding water quality

239

252

Number of customer contacts regarding water pressure

736

576

Responding written customer contacts within at least 2 work days

98,5 %

99,1 %

Number of failed promises

19

117

Notification of unplanned water interruptions at least 1 h before the interruption

89 %

96,9 %

Tap water is drinking water

Tap water in the capital is of high quality and it is safe to drink it. As for water quality, 2013 was even better than previous years, with 99.70% of all the water samples were in compliance with the requirements, which is the highest level achieved in the company's history. This means that from 2965 water samples taken from the consumers' taps last year we found only 9 non-compliances. Water quality is mostly influenced by iron and turbidity which is caused by the condition of water pipelines. We reacted immediately to all non-compliances.

Starting from 2013, the residents of Maardu are also being provided with drinking water from lake Ulemiste. 99.31% of water samples taken in Maardu in 2013 were in compliance with the requirements. Prior to the connection with Tallinn water supply network, Maardu residents' drinking water complied with quality requirements only to the extent of 33%.

A reliable service

It is important to the residents that a well-functioning service be provided to them twenty-four hours. Therefore we are concentrating on a continuous improvement of the reliability of our service.

2013 saw a slight increase in the number of customer contacts as compared with 2012. It mainly happened due to an active construction activity in Nomme, the process of connection of the residents of Muuga and Maardu and EU law change related with transfer to the e-invoice standing order service which has caused confusion among the customers to some extent. The construction activity has also brought about the increase of breaches of Our Promises - this is a system unique to our company according to which we pay compensation to the customer if we are not able to comply with our internal service standards. However, in 2013 the number of complaints has reduced to 118 compared to 152 in 2012. It indicates that regardless of short-term problems which, first and foremost, have been caused by external factors, the customers can be sure that the service functions well.

Cleaner environment

Our focus continues to be on reducing the risks related to potential floodings and pollution as well as any unpleasant impact on customers. In 2013, preventive jet washing resulted in a decrease of sewer blockages by 20% compared to the average of the last four years. It means that if there were 915 blockages on average in the past years, there were 762 blockages in 2013.

The level of leakages is also decreasing year-on-year due to preventive actions. This saves approximately 13 000 m3 of treated drinking water a day compared to the time 10 years ago.

Customer is our partner

Our communication with customers concentrates on preventive activities in order to enable us to react on problems faster and avoid more serious issues to occur. We ask for a monthly feedback from our customers based on which we can immediately deal with the subjects where we do not meet customers' expectations. In 2013 exceeded our expectations regarding customers' feedback. Compared to 2012 performance of 3,32, our customers gave us 3,42 points on a 4-points scale in 2013. Continuously high satisfaction with our services is also being demonstrated by the results of customer satisfaction survey, carried out by TNS EMOR, being significantly higher than the average of European utility companies.

Our key aim is to make sure that the customers know, when their questions get resolved. In order to reduce any inconveniences caused by interruptions to water supply, we notified our customers of interruptions in advance in 96,9% of cases in 2013.

We constantly strive for new solutions to make it easier for the customers to communicate with us. Our customers use more and more the e-channels, which demonstrates that it is convenient for them to use those.