Whether it’s drinking water quality, equity of services, customer experience or climate change action, it’s time to tell SA Water what’s important to you regarding the services they provide, including how much you’re willing to pay for them. Talking water with your water authority so they can learn from you!
The state-wide water utility is preparing its investment plan for 2024-2028. It wants your feedback on 15 initiatives for potential inclusion.
SA Water’s General Manager of Strategy, Engagement and Innovation, Nicola Murphy, said you could make your voice heard through an online survey. That aims to understand your priorities and the value you place on various levels of service and investment. Each of these has different bill impacts.
“As well as getting the essentials right for more than 1.7 million South Australians, there are new or expanded services we could invest in. We could help residents to manage water use better or recycle more of the waste created in our construction activities,” Murphy said.
“We strive to provide trusted water services and to achieve this. Customer feedback must be at the heart of our business decisions. We’re asking you to tell us what matters to you.
“Through our comprehensive research and engagement program, we’ve already been talking to our customers and key stakeholders across the state at workshops, drop-in sessions and focus groups, as well as discussions online via our Water Talks website.
How talking water helps everyone
“To get involved in this next stage of the process, jump online and complete our ‘Would you invest in this?’ survey.”
Feedback from the survey will be used to develop a proposal which economic regulator, the Essential Services Commission of South Australia, will review and use to determine how much revenue SA Water can collect through customer charges.
“Please know up-front that the survey will take around 20 minutes. It’s not a quick tick-and-flick exercise. It requires careful thought about the services you would like to see us deliver in the future,” Murphy said.
“We want to explore the trade-offs between reliability, quality and cost. They influence our capital and operating expenses. Those expenses influence the charges passed on through your water bills.”
To have your say, visit watertalks.sawater.com.au. The survey is open until 5 pm on Friday, 23 September. Respondents can also go in the draw to win a $100 voucher.
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