Drinking Water 2003

The Inspectorate receives many enquiries relating to drinking water quality from the public, businesses and other interested parties. In order to respond effectively to these enquiries, the Inspectorate has a first response unit which can answer most routine questions. More complicated questions are always assessed by an appropriate Inspector.

A similar approach is used for handling consumer complaints about drinking water quality.

The Code for Enforcement sets a target for the Inspectorate to respond to all general enquiries, and straightforward complaints, irrespective of origin, within three weeks.

Enquiries

The Inspectorate received a total of 1,240 general enquiries during 2003, a reduction of 22 per cent compared with the total number received in 2002.

The table below details enquiries received and recorded. It shows the form of enquiry and the number of responses that reached or fell short of the desired target.

General enquiries received by the Inspectorate during 2003

Enquiries are received on many subjects including the following:

Leaflets are available on most of the above subjects. These may be obtained free of charge from the Inspectorate or viewed at the website www.dwi.gov.uk.

Consumer complaints

Most complaints on drinking water quality are handled effectively by water companies without reference to the Inspectorate. However, the Inspectorate occasionally receives calls from consumers who are not satisfied with the response from their water company.

In 2003, the Inspectorate investigated 167 complaints from consumers about drinking water quality, an increase of 20 per cent compared with 2002.

The largest number of complaints related to the supply of discoloured water, with complaints about taste and odour also featuring highly. Complaints classed as ’Other’ increased in 2003, but this was due to residents from an area where their supply was changed, 26 of whom complained to the Inspectorate.

Breakdown of complaints by type

Most of the complaints were dealt with by the Inspectorate asking the relevant water company to investigate the matter and take remedial action where necessary. Additionally, where appropriate, the Inspectorate advised complainants on any action which they themselves could take.

If the consumer remained dissatisfied with the water company’s response, the Inspectorate investigated the complaint further. In some cases this was done in association with the environmental health department of the local authority concerned.

The Inspectorate continued to liaise closely with WaterVoice. Occasionally the WaterVoice committee also referred drinking water quality complaints to the Inspectorate for investigation.

Every effort was made to complete investigations within the terms of the Inspectorate’s Code for Enforcement. However, 21 per cent of complaints required more detailed investigation, often with other parties, and took longer to bring to a satisfactory conclusion. Occasionally it has not been possible to achieve a satisfactory resolution for the consumer.

Complaints by company

The larger water companies cover wider areas of supply and consequently tend to receive far more complaints from consumers. To give a fair and balanced comparison of customer complaints, the number of complaints received by the Inspectorate per 100,000 people of the population that each water company served was used as a basis for comparison.

The following graphs show the number of complaints received by the Inspectorate per 100,000 of the population.

Figure 1 Number of complaints received for each water company per 100,000 of the population in each service area for 2003

Figure 2 A comparison between numbers of complaints received for each water company for 2002 and 2003

The Inspectorate received no complaints in 2003 from consumers served by those companies not shown in Figure 1.

While most consumers who contact the Inspectorate have a concern about their drinking water quality, some complaints relate to consumer dissatisfaction with the way their complaint was handled by the water companies. During 2003, 17 companies were audited on the quality of their response to a selected number of complaints.

It was found that companies generally have suitable procedures for dealing with their customers. However, where complaints had not been handled appropriately it was normally due to a break down in communication within the company or with their customers. Suggestions for improving complaint handling have been made to most companies.

The Inspectorate also receives a number of calls from persistent complainers, where it is not possible either to establish the basis for their complaint or to resolve the issue of concern.