Chapter 13: Customer Questions, Complaints, and Investigation
- Page ID
- 38948
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)After reading this section, you should be able to:
- Outline common customer questions and complaints
- Explain recording keeping
- Explain response process to customer inquiries and complaints
Questions and Issues
Water agencies rely on customer inquiries or complaints for effective monitoring water quality in a distribution system. Most customer questions are regarding secondary or aesthetic concerns:
- Why does my water look this way?
- Why does it taste this way?
- Why does it have this smell?
Many of these questions can be answered without launching a full investigation. But water quality complaints at times may provide an early warning of a more serious water quality incident. As such, well run agencies have established effective customer complaint monitoring and communication programs.
EPA designed a Water Quality Surveillance and Response System, in 2017, which includes a customer complaint component. It was designed for the water resource professional and is flexible and adaptable based on a water utility’s goals.1 It is based on a “Funnel, Filter and Focus” approach whereby utilities can quickly identify which complaints may identify an actual water quality incident.
Water utility customer service departments typically follow this approach:
- Collect Data. (Funnel and Filter) Customer contact is directed to a central location to representatives who are trained to collect and filter information based on the type of complaint, including the customer’s contact information, description of the problem, and dates that it started (and ended, if it did).
- Investigate. (Focus) Forward the complaint to the proper department or person for evaluation, if necessary. Then the relevant department should initiate an investigation, consider potential causes, gather additional data from the customer and other sources such as operations records of the plant or distributions system, laboratory, or field testing results on water samples, and distribution system inspection results, such as cross connections and proper valve operation. Water quality staff will determine if the complaint could indicate contamination and take corrective action if necessary.
- Communicate. Keep the customer informed of the results of the complaint investigation. If it is an actual water quality incident, notification rules to the public and other agencies may be required.
Open, positive, and transparent communication with the public cannot be overstated. All utility employees should be provided with training by the water utility they represent. Customer service representatives should be able to respond to billing or meter reading concerns and general water quality complaints related to minor issues such as taste and odor changes when switching from chloramine to free chlorine. All water operators should have the knowledge and basic understanding of all aspects of their source water, distribution system, and treatment plant. They will likely encounter regulators from other agencies in the course of their career.
Social media is a major resource employed by well-run agencies to reach customers, address complaints and manage water quality issues. Social media platforms like “Facebook” and community based “Nextdoor” are presently used by many agencies. The irony is that the public will judge its water supply on secondary standards (cloudy, rust colored, musty smell) and not primary standards. Social media can go a long way towards explaining what is taking place when these nuisance water quality issues arise.
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Pin It! Misconception Alert It’s easy to dismiss customer concerns, particularly if they are vocalized loudly or rudely. All complaints should be treated as legitimate. |
It is important for customers to know how to communicate complaints to their utility and that all complaints are captured and funneled into one location regardless of how they are received. The near real-time acquisition of this information is invaluable in the event of a real emergency.
Agencies have used their Consumer Confidence Reports to clearly explain how to report water quality issues. They include examples of the type of information the customer should provide (taste, odor, appearance of the water).
Records
Written records should be kept on all facilities in the distribution system. These records should describe the facility, its construction, date installed, repairs and maintenance work completed, manufacture, and condition during the latest inspection.
As new facilities are installed, they should be included in the existing record system. Records should also note those facilities retired from service. Other types of records that should be kept are:
- Results of water quality monitoring
- Cross-connection control
- Main flushing
- Main cleaning
- Consumer questions, complaints and conservation programs participated in
- Disinfection
- Pressure surveys
- Leaks
- Engineering reports
- Any operations done in compliance with the request of the health department
- A daily log kept on any and all unusual events occurring, such as equipment malfunction, unusual weather conditions, and natural or manmade disasters.
Each public water system is required by the primary Drinking Water Regulations to maintain records of water quality analyses, written reports, variances or exemptions, and actions taken to correct violations of the regulations.
Complaints
Customer complaints may vary based on geographic region. Within the southwestern United States, complaints about hard water are very common. Customers may complain about the water containing “floating objects,” which are often calcium or magnesium. These are minerals that are naturally occurring in groundwater, but may cause customers to think the water is not safe to drink. It is not common for many customers to utilize water softener services and under sink filtration and reverse osmosis treatment systems.
Many water quality complaints originate within the customers own plumbing system downstream from their retail service connection. There may be low pressure problems or rusty colored water incidents due to the customer’s valves or water lines. It is not uncommon for a utility to dispatch an employee to take a water quality sample at the customer’s residence and report back with the results.
Water utilities will also receive complaints about illnesses in a home due to the drinking water. The customer should also be referred to city or county public health agencies while the utility is performing its own investigation.
Surveys
Most utilities go directly to their customers to find out how the customers feel about the system and its operations. The process is part of an overall plan by utility to self-evaluate and collect customer opinions. Follow-up after a survey with consumers, and develop an improvement program to address the issues that were uncovered in the questionnaire. The questionnaires should be designed to ask questions that a layperson could understand, and it may be advantageous to field test the survey before wide distribution. Problems can be identified, and priorities can be designated as to which problems can be solved soon and which must wait for solutions at some later date. Again, social media can be a valuable platform for this.
When customers or stakeholders complain about an aspect of the drinking water or service, document the complaints. Maintain a data file of all complaints that are received and use it to monitor underlying symptoms of problems that are larger than the immediate issue raised. The data file should be such that it can be searched for any patterns that could surface from the complaints. Importantly, the utility should use the complaints as a tool for early detection of potential problems.
[1] USEPA, Designing Customer Complaint Surveillance For Water Quality Surveillance and Response Systems https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2018-02/documents/customer_complaint_surveillance_design_guidance.pdf)