Similarly to previous years, the first quarter of 2015 can be characterised with stability. Above all, it gives security to all consumers that they are provided with a high-quality drinking water, stable water supply and wastewater discharging service. In addition to the quality of service, we also concentrate on being a good partner for our customers. The feedback from the customers has become more and more positive, but despite of that we aim to continue making efforts to meet and exceed the customers’ expectations.
Operational indicators for the 1st quarter of 2015
| Indicator | 2014 Q1 | 2015 Q1 |
| Drinking water | ||
| Compliance of water quality at the customers’ tap | 100% | 100% |
| Water loss in the water distribution network | 17.73 % | 14.64% |
| Average duration of water interruptions per property in hours | 2.29 | 3.05 |
| Wastewater | ||
| Number of sewer blockages | 231 | 220 |
| Number of sewer bursts | 42 | 36 |
| Number of customer contacts regarding blockages and storm water discharge | 268 | 307 |
| Wastewater treatment compliance with environmental standards | 100% (except for Zn and Cu) | 100% |
| Customer Service | ||
| Number of written complaints | 15 | 21 |
| Number of customer contacts regarding water quality | 27 | 27 |
| Number of customer contacts regarding water pressure | 72 | 79 |
| Responding written customer contacts within at least 2 work days | 99.4% | 99.1% |
| Number of failed promises | 4 | 4 |
| Notification of unplanned water interruptions at least 1 h before the interruption | 97.4% | 98.1% |
Tap water is drinking water
Quality of drinking water has an important impact on people’s health and wellbeing. For years now, the quality of tap water in the capital city can be compared with a tap water quality in any Western European state, and therefore we keep encouraging people to drink tap water. Tight requirements, established with the legislative acts, are set for the quality of drinking water and this quality is monitored according to the drinking water monitoring programs approved by the Health Board. It is the compliance with the legislative acts that characterizes the water quality. The first quarter of 2015 once again showed a stable and excellent performance on water quality. In the first quarter of 2015, we took a total of 732 water samples from the consumers’ taps, and all of them were 100% in compliance with the applicable quality requirements.
A reliable service
It is important for the residents to have a high-quality 24/7 service available. Therefore, we focus a lot on planning and optimizing our activities, in order to prevent, if possible, or reduce the unpleasant impact that providing of our services may cause. We also deem very important that our customers know when their questions would be resolved or when we are performing the works that might impact their activities. We monitor the compliance with the promised deadlines with proper diligence and inform our customers if we are not able to fulfil these agreements.
A reliable service also means that there are less inconveniencies for residents caused by water interruptions and they have less reasons to contact us. The number of customer contacts has been decreasing remarkably year-on-year, which is a sign of stable improvements both in providing the service and the customer service.
Cleaner environment
We provide the wastewater discharge service to nearly one third of the Estonia’s population. The wastewater treatment plant in Paljassaare is removing more and more pollutants form the wastewater each year, in order to ensure the compliance with environmental requirements and guarantee the purity of water in the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland. By using eco-friendly and modern technologies, Paljassaare Wastewater Treatment Plant treats the wastewater collected from Tallinn and its surrounding areas. In the first quarter of 2015, the treated effluent was 100% compliant with all the quality requirements.
We continue to focus on possible risks of floodings and pollution incidents, as well as on reducing the inconveniencies we may cause to the customers. The number of blockages best characterizes the condition of sewer network. The sediments accumulating in the sewerage pipelines, in turn, are the main cause of blockages. As the water consumption has been dropping constantly in recent years, the flow volumes and speeds have been decreasing, increasing the risk of blockages. Continuous expansion of sewer network also has an impact on the overall number of blockages. Preventive actions, such as flushing the sewer network, play an important role in reducing the number of blockages. In the first quarter of 2015, there were nearly 5% less sewer blockages than last year at the same time.
The level of leakages is also decreasing year-on-year due to preventive actions. While in the first quarter of 2014 the leakage level was 17.73%, this year it had dropped to 14.64%, which is the best result of all times. This saves approximately 13 000 m3 of treated drinking water a day compared to the time 10 years ago.
Mariliis Mia Topp
Head of Communications
Tel: (+372) 62 62 275
mariliismia.topp@tvesi.ee