Riverina residents' satisfaction with water quality drops but remains high for delivery service: 2019 survey

Released earlier this week, the survey was conducted by IRIS Research over two weeks in February with 721 respondents from Wagga, Federation, Greater Hume and Lockhart LGAs.

Satisfaction with water quality was 3.9 compared with an average of 4.06 in 2014 to 2018.

However, water-service satisfaction was 4.4 in 2019 compared with an average of 4.3 in the previous five years.

The latest survey results also show that 36 per cent of respondents made a complaint about water infrastructure and quality.

In December 2018, Darlow Street resident Di Masling had a load of white clothes ending up brown from dirty water.

Ms Masling, 67, reported the incident to Riverina Water County Council, who she said resolved the matter quickly.

"I did a load of white washing and it came out brown, I was so upset," Ms Masling said.

"But they came straight away and gave me a sachet to do the washing again.

"They were really on the ball straight away and that says a lot."

The problem was caused by a broken pipe in the vicinity.

"They fixed the pipe and told everyone to run their water to run it clear," Ms Masling said.

Since then, the resident of three years said she has not experienced anymore incidents and that she was generally happy with the service delivery.

The 2019 results found that 26 pc of survey respondents contacted RWCC within one-year of the survey, with 89 per cent satisfied at how their enquiry was handled.

In comparison, 2018 results show 15.1 per cent of respondents contacted Riverina Water within one-year of the survey with a satisfaction rate of 82.4 per cent.

Central Wagga resident Tony Baunskill was one of the respondents of the 2019 survey.

"I don't have a problem with water quality and am certainly satisfied," Mr Baunskill said.

"I haven't made a complaint in the past 12 months as I don't think things have deteriorated."

RWCC's general manager Andrew Crakanthorp said the results are great and he thanked the customers who provided feedback.

"The survey shows the vast majority of respondents who dealt with our organisation over the past year expressed a high level of satisfaction with their experience," he said.

Mr Crakanthorp said the survey is a critical litmus test that not only tracks customer satisfaction with the organisation's performance, but also identifies areas for improvement.

"Our customers are at the centre of everything we do, so it's paramount we understand their needs and wants," he said.

"We're proud our water quality customer satisfaction has remained relatively stable at a high level over the past six years, however there is still room for improvement," he said.

"Our new Wagga water-treatment plant will improve water clarity as it has more efficient filters capable of removing even smaller particles than before.

"The new plant design also allows for future processes that can be incorporated into the plant to improve taste and smell."

Areas for improvement include further awareness of water conservation, fixed sprinkler bans and stepped tariffs.

Mr Crakanthorp said the organisation will investigate new ways to engage with customers via email off the back of the survey results.

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