30% Of Utility Customers Report Quality Problems

A new report gave water ratepayers a voice on whether their water utility is meeting their needs.

J.D. Power released a survey of water utility customer satisfaction this week, revealing that 30 percent of water utility customers report water quality problems, including bad taste, discoloration, and hardness.

J.D. Power analysts claim that the results may indicate shortcomings in federal consumer confidence surveys.

“While the mandated water quality reports produced by regional water authorities do a great job of measuring specific water quality issues, they are not telling the whole story when it comes to perceptions of the water that is coming out of customers’ faucets,” said Andrew Heath, senior director of the utility practice at J.D. Power.

“Whether it’s a serious problem like high lead or mineral counts, or a more subjective issue like bad taste or low pressure, a significant number of residential water utility customers are not happy with the product. Water utilities need to understand why customer views are not matching the views of the water utility and need to address these concerns,” he continued.

After the survey was released, local newspapers were quick to report how their water providers measured up.

New 5 Cleveland reported that the Cleveland Division of Water ranked last of all midwestern utilities for the second year in a row.

“Cleveland Water received the lowest score of all water utilities in the Midwest with 658 points on a 1,000 point scale. Nationwide, four other utilities scored lower than Cleveland. By comparison, the highest-ranked Midwestern utilities scored 703,” the report said.

Cleveland Water released this statement in response to the survey:

At Cleveland Water, we continually work to provide a reliable supply of safe drinking water and quality customer service to the 1.4 million people who count on us at an affordable price. The most recent JD Power report indicates our customer service satisfaction index score increased significantly – by 23 points – from 2017 to 2018. This increase is a reflection of the on-going improvements we have made. We are in the process of reviewing these findings in more detail. We recognize that there is still work that needs to be done, and we are continuing to invest in technology, training and our employees to ensure we are delivering best in class customer service.

Louisville had happier news. The survey ranked Louisville Water Company in first in the midwest, tied with St. Paul, MN. Louisville is the only water company in the country with trademarked water.

Kelley Dearing Smith, spokeswoman for Louisville Water Company, attributed the survey success to taste.

“When you talk about quality, I think taste is probably the most important aspect,” Smith said, per Insider Louisville. “The water could be totally safe to drink, but if it doesn’t taste good, people aren’t going to want to drink it. So, we put a lot of effort into making our water taste good.”

Meanwhile, the happiest customers in the South come from Gwinnett County, GA.

Gwinnett County scored a 757 out of 1000, which was “the highest of any utility listed in the information released on J.D. Power’s website. It narrowly beat out Orlando, Florida (756) and metro Atlanta neighbor Cobb County (755) to take the South region crown,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.