Almost 91 % of home owners acknowledge the activities of SmVaK Ostrava, 92 % of respondents speak highly of drinking water quality

Ostrava, 6 December 2019 – A positive perception of SmVaK Ostrava from 95 % of municipality respondents and 92 % of business respondents, who have also spoken very highly of the approach of the water company employees when dealing with operational issues (99 %). These are the outcomes of a client satisfaction survey carried out by Respond & Co. in the Moravian-Silesian Region where SmVaK Ostrava operates.

“We greatly appreciate the favourable assessment of our clients because their satisfaction is the key to our company’s successful operations. We have re-run the survey again after two years and the fact that the assessment of home owners, towns or business sector has not changed in this respect only confirms that our efforts of keeping the provided services at top quality level, or even enhancing them, is the right way to go. For example, all respondents from municipalities stated they are satisfied with the professional attitude and approach of our employees they deal with when resolving operational issues in action. I am pleased to hear that and, at the same time, it is a challenge for me to keep going,” says Mr. Anatol Pšenička, CEO of SmVaK.
92 % of home owner respondents consider the supplied drinking water to be of good quality; water quality is also positively seen by 94 % of business respondents and 97 % of municipality respondents. “Drinking water quality in the region is – in the long-term view – one of the best in the Czech Republic. It is due to the quality of water sources such as Šance, Morávka and Slezská Harta – Kružberk dams on one side but also due to the excellent level of our water treatment operations. Having refurbished significantly our equipment and facilities at our largest water treatment plant in Podhradí near Vítkov, we are currently working on an equipment refurbishment project worth almost CZK 125 at the largest Beskydy water treatment plant in Nová Ves near Frýdlant nad Ostravicí,” explains Mr. Pšenička.

8 % of home owner respondents perceive water quality as rather low. Most often, they complain about a slightly rusty colour of water. “However, this issue is linked more to internal piping in the house, meaning the condition of infrastructure in place after the water meter, than to the quality of supplied water. We are providing regular analyses of raw water before, during and after water treatment process. Drinking water is also analysed at the client’s (tap water checks). The water quality results are published on a weekly basis at www.smvak.cz structured by monitored indicators, individual water treatment plants, major water reservoirs and regions supplied with water,” says Mr. Milan Koníř, Head of Water Lines of SmVaK Ostrava.

According to 93 % of home owners, drinking water supply disruptions are infrequent, two third say even non-existent. It is positive to hear that 95 % respondents who had to face a disruption state it had been quickly fixed by the employees of SmVaK. According to 90 % of municipality representatives, there are no disruptions at all or they are very rare. Also, 93 % of them are satisfied with the way any disruptions, if they happen, are handled and fixed.

59 % of home owners state they know how much they pay for water and sewage charges which is 8 % more compared to the 2017 survey. However, it is still 10 % less than four years ago. “People who say they know how much they pay for water were quite significantly wrong in their answers – on average, they were quoting a price nine Czech koruna per cubic meter higher than the actual price. The statement that they know the price does not necessarily mean they are correctly informed about pricing. This could be one of the reasons why one third of respondents consider the price to be adequate whereas 59 % of people, that is 2 % less than two years ago, think it is high,” says Mr. Ondrej Gažík, Manager of the survey agency Respond & Co.

What has not changed in the long-term perspective is that almost a half of all respondents buy from time to time bottled water (50 % in 2011, 46 % in 2017 and 47 % in 2019). “Contrary to that, only 8 % of respondents purchase bottled flavoured water on a regular basis representing a decrease by 3 % compared to the 2017 survey. 40 % never buys bottled flavoured water as they either consider it expensive or think its quality is not higher than that of tap water,” comments Mr. Gažík.

According to 94 % of the home owners questioned in the survey, SmVaK Ostrava takes a good care of the entire water infrastructure. “People saw very highly the professional attitude of our employees in the client centres which were seen as significantly better than, for example, call centres of mobile phone operators or energy suppliers. Respondents are also happy with the employees who are coming to read the water meter. If we were to use Czech school grading scheme, they would get an average of 1.3. Respondents were also talking positively about supportive behaviour and expertise of our colleagues. I am proud of that and take it as a challenge to keep working hard this way,” says Mr. Pšenička.

The customer satisfaction survey was run this October and involved 900 households that SmVaK Ostrava supplies with drinking water or discharges sewage from. At the same time, a survey was held with the representatives of 100 towns and communities in the region and 100 representatives of business entities.

Contact:

Mgr. Marek Síbrt, Spokesperson

Severomoravské vodovody a kanalizace Ostrava a.s.

28. října 1235/169, Mariánské Hory, 709 00 Ostrava.

Phone 725 500 509

E-mail marek.sibrt@smvak.cz
www.smvak.cz