Our performance

On the back of the boil water advisory issued during the Silvan Dam incident, we’ve developed a chlorination strategy, aligned with the Department of Health’s recently-released guidance. The implementation of our strategy is in progress, alongside a number of operational changes and setpoint increases we’ve already implemented to increase chlorine residuals. This is to further protect our water supply from potential future threats. The next step will be to install more chlorinators, which will slightly increase the chlorine residual in areas that have historically had lower levels. The slight increase in chlorine will provide added assurance for our regulator, without affecting the taste or odour of water we supply to our customers.

We’re continuing to capture more customer email and mobile details, resulting in more customers being notified of water service interruptions. 

Repair works have been less-complex for this period, resulting in faster repair times and quicker restoration of water supply to customers.

We continue to adapt our operations due to the impacts of Coronavirus COVID-19. Costs are currently being managed within allowances but may be impacted in the later part of 2020-21.

Our Customer Care team has continued to support more customers than ever throughout the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve assisted over 3180 customers in the first half of the financial year, and we’re well on track to achieve the end-of year target.

To achieve this result, we’ve on-boarded more-experienced staff in the team to ensure our customers are getting the right support in a timely manner, and we’re also working with a number of external community groups to help assist those customers who need our support.

Customer satisfaction continues to remain high, as we endeavour to resolve most queries the first time customers contact us, improving their overall experience.

Value for money score remains high as customers generally appreciate the quality and promptness of the service they receive from us.

We’re on track to meet our greenhouse gas emissions targets. Our first solar array projects are generating electricity at Somers and Pakenham water recycling plants and a Combined Heat and Power Unit at Mt Martha will be commissioned by the end of 2021. The unit uses waste biogas from the treatment process to generate energy. We’re also investigating ways to make our operations more energy-efficient, and our joint purchase industry contract with Kiamal Solar Farm is commissioned and reducing our emissions by almost 25 per cent per year.

The three reportable spills were caused by blockages in reticulation sewers in Mt Eliza, Springvale and Mornington. So far, this financial year, we’re well below the target, highlighting the performance of the proactive maintenance work we’ve undertaken to target significant spills.