CUSTOMER SERVICE

By James D. "Pretti" (Jim) Pretti

Provide top quality service to customers.

For the last several years our customer satisfaction level has risen every year and is currently at its highest peak.

Our customers are especially pleased to get a live voice when they call the District, and not automated instructions telling them to push through a series of buttons before they make contact with a real person.

Our crews respond to service calls and emergency situations as quickly as possible. Whenever there is planned construction work in an area, the District notifies the nearby residents informing them of the work that is scheduled to be done and the time when it will be done. If for any reason water service has to be turned off for a short period of time, the affected customers are notified and bottled drinking water is provided to each household.

CCWD offers conservation services to all types of customers, residential, commercial and industrial. At any customer request, trained conservation specialists will conduct a conservation survey of a residence. They will check for any leaks in the house, provide low-flow shower heads, measure flow from sprinkler systems, recommend timing of watering landscapes, and recommend other ways of reducing water usage in the home, all of which can help in reducing water bills. There is no cost for this service.

CCWD also has a rebate program whereby customers can install low-flush toilets and high efficiency,low water use clothes washers, and receive a rebate. These conservation measures not only help to reduce water bills, they also reduce water demand and expand our existing water supply.

Prior to the time I was elected in 1993, CCWD did not have a continuing maintenance program. CCWD now has a program of maintaining and upgrading its infrastructure. The Water District system is 50 years old and one of my objectives is to keep the system well maintained so we don't run into a situation that is happening to the San Francisco water delivery system. Because of years of neglect, San Francisco is now facing a $1.6 billion repair program that will result in a rate increase of over 300% in the next few years. One important project that is now under construction is a new pipeline connecting our facilities in East County with Central County. This pipeline will provide greater protection in case of a major earthquake that could cause great damage to CCWD's canal and will provide greater flexibility and reliability in delivering water to our customers. If we want to maintain good service to our customers, we have to keep the system in good operating condition.