C FACTOR
Water Quality: Drinking Water, Not Just Treatment Patrick “Murf ” Murphy
President, FWPCOA
O
bviously, water quality is important to all of us, whether it’s the wastewater plant effluent; the stormwater that needs to be collected and treated; or the potable water that we produce, treat, and distribute. All of these need to meet state and federal regulations. Water quality is the general term used to describe the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of the water supply. A domestic water supply is considered to be of good quality when it’s free of disease-causing organisms
and toxic chemicals, attractive in taste and appearance, the chemical composition is such that it can be distributed without undue corrosive or scale-forming effects on the water system, and it satisfies customers. The primary responsibility of the treatment plant is to produce safe and palatable water, and the technologies are out there to make all source waters potable and perfect for our customers, but the story does not end at the entry point to the distribution system. No matter how good your treatment is, if the distribution system is not being maintained, then the customers will assume that the water is not being properly treated. So, instead of talking about treatment technologies, which are proven and effective, I want to talk about water complaints (what we call water quality concerns; our customers aren’t complainers), because dealing with them is dealing with water quality!
Customer Chemistry Customer chemistry can transform into something more important than water chemistry, but not knowing about your water before responding to a customer’s concern can be a fatal mistake! One might have the best customer relation skills in the world, but misquoting information about your water treatment and/ or the distribution system could convince the customer that the entire water utility has no concept of what it’s doing. A customer service employee should have the skills to interact professionally with the public. Being “Sherlock Holmes” is not necessarily needed for every complaint, but what is needed is listening and showing customers that you really care about the problem by letting them know that you are knowledgeable and in control of the water situation, that you are going to thoroughly investigate the problem, and that you are going to help them understand what they (and you) can do to solve the problem or what to do until it’s resolved. You may not have the ultimate skills of Sherlock Holmes, but customers need to know that you are their “water investigator.”
Customer Complaints
50 percent of the softeners visited during water complaints look like this—or worse.
Horsehair worms are 1/25 to 1/16 inches wide and can be 4 to 14 inches long. They are deadly to insects, but don’t harm humans, animals, or plants.
Horsehair worm tracks from the first water complaint.
60 August 2022 • Florida Water Resources Journal
If the complaint comes in by phone, some preliminary questions can aid the investigator in the determination of the problem, and sometimes the problem can be resolved right there on the phone! Create a form that includes the questions that should be asked of the customer at first contact, and if you’re not the person that call should have gone to, don’t take notes and email the correct person later; it’s more beneficial to the customer and the investigator to just take a few minutes to get them to the person that has a form, and will be dispatching someone right then. Create a form to track customer complaints, which can be as simple as an Excel form or as complex as a map identifying the locations throughout the service area. The investigator needs to follow some basic guidelines: S D o not argue with the customer. S A lways be friendly and courteous. S A ssure the customer that reporting the problem was the correct thing to do. S L isten carefully and calmly to the customer’s description of the problem.
