Market announcement

Title

AS Tallinna Vesi's operational performance in 2015

Message

Our first priority is to provide our customers with high-quality drinking
water, reliable water supply and wastewater discharge services. Similar to
previous years, 2015 can be characterised with excellent and even further
improved quality levels across all the services we provide. We will continue to
focus on maintaining and improving all our key performance indicators so our
consumers can rely on the service they receive. Last year we achieved the best
ever water quality and the level of leakages was also the lowest of all times. 

However, we wish to do more than we are asked and expected, in order to make a
positive impact on the surrounding natural environment and people’s quality of
life. Besides providing a high-quality service we systematically and
continuously focus on the relations within the Company itself as well as
outside, and do our best to contribute to the wellbeing of the whole community
through involvement and improvement of awareness. 

Last year was crowned by an exceptionally high customer satisfaction, reaching
as high as 94 TRIM index points according to the survey carried out by EMOR.
This is the highest score we have achieved so far, significantly exceeding the
average of the European and Estonian industrial sector. In 2015, we were
awarded with Golden Mark in CSR Index, which is a sign of being responsible in
our actions and minds. At the end of 2015, we were recognized as the most youth
and children-friendly company in Tallinn, which is a great pleasure especially
because we consider the work done with the young people to be a starting point
for a more environment-friendly consumer behaviour. It is also extremely
important in our service that working would be safe for both our employees and
the residents. In 2015, we received the “Good Working Environment 2015” award
demonstrating that we are doing the right thing. 


Operational indicators for 2015

Indicator                                                           2014    2015
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Drinking water                                                                  
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Compliance of water quality at the customers’ tap                 99.80%  99.86%
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Water loss in the water distribution network                      16.14%  14.68%
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Average duration of water interruptions per property in hours     3.15 h  3.22 h
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Wastewater                                                                      
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- 
Number of sewer blockages                                            757     737
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Number of sewer bursts                                               119     127
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Wastewater treatment compliance with environmental standards        100%    100%
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Customer Service                                                                
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- 
Number of written complaints                                          76      67
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Number of customer contacts regarding water quality                  152     115
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Number of customer contacts regarding water pressure                 380     337
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Number of customer contacts regarding blockages and discharge of    1060    1061
 storm water                                                                    
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Responding written customer contacts within at least 2 work days   99.1%   99.2%
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Number of failed promises                                             54       9
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Notification of unplanned water interruptions at least 1 h           95%   98.7%
 before the interruption                                                        
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Tap water is drinking water

Quality of drinking water has a significant impact on public health and
wellbeing. Tap water quality in the capital city has been comparable to that of
any country in Western Europe for several years now, and therefore we keep
encouraging people to drink tap water. 2015 customer satisfaction survey,
carried out by an independent research agency EMOR, confirms that our clients
and consumers trust tap water quality more and more. In 2015, an average of 82%
of consumers drank tap water, while in 2011 this number was only 48%. This
proves also how important it is to focus on increasing the consumers’ awareness
about the tap water quality. 

Strict legal requirements are set for the quality of drinking water and this
quality is monitored in line with the drinking water monitoring programs
approved by the Health Board. Water quality is most characterised by the
compliance with the legislative acts. In 2015, we took a total of 2 945 water
samples from the consumers’ taps and carried out 24,500 water analyses.
All-time record of 99.86% of all the water samples taken were compliant with
all the requirements last year. Thus, only four samples exceeded the limit
values set for the iron content. We immediately carried out maintenance works
on the water network on the relevant streets resulting in the new samples being
fully compliant. In Maardu, the samples taken from the consumers’ taps were
100% compliant. Steadily high level of quality is a result of an efficient
water treatment process, preventive actions reducing the number of water bursts
on the network, and a timely maintenance done on the water pipelines. 

A reliable service

It is important for the residents to have a high-quality service available for
24/7. Therefore, we focus a lot on planning and optimizing our activities, in
order to prevent, if possible, or reduce the unpleasant impact potentially
caused by our services. We also deem very important that our customers know
when their questions would be resolved or when we are performing the works that
might impact their activities. We monitor the meeting of the promised deadlines
with due diligence and inform our customers if we are not able to fulfil these
agreements. 

A reliable service also means that we cause as little inconvenience to our
customers with what we do as possible. Timely maintenance and reconstruction of
water pipes has significantly reduced the number of water bursts. In 2015, we
reconstructed a total on 5.2 km of water pipes across the City of Tallinn. 

Preventive actions have also helped to reduce year-on-year the level of
leakages, which indicates the water loss in the distribution network. Whereas
the level of leakages was very low (16.14%) already in 2014, the level achieved
in 2015 (14.68%) was the lowest in the Company’s history. This means that by
comparing merely with year 2014, we saved 500,000 m3 of water, which is the
average amount of water consumed by the whole Tallinn within one week. Compared
to the beginning of 2000-s, when the level of leakages was nearly 32%, we are
now saving almost 5,000,000 m3 of treated drinking water. 

We take the timely and proper feedback to our service very seriously. We ask
feedback to our work from clients on a monthly basis, so that we could promptly
react, if needed, to any issues that require more attention. Furthermore, each
year we order TNS EMOR to carry out a satisfaction survey among our customers.
This is an extensive survey, mapping the satisfaction of both our contractual
clients and consumers with our work and activities. The assessment is being
given based on their client experience and direct contact with the company, but
also on the opinions created by the media coverage, services, or other type of
indirect or direct contact. 

In 2015, the customer retention (TRI*M index) has reached the highest level so
far – 94 points, compared to the 85 points in previous year. For years now, we
have continued to stand out with the ratings significantly higher than the
European average of industrial sector (67 points) and the top 10% of utility
companies (86 points). 

Cleaner environment

We provide wastewater discharge service to nearly one third of the Estonia’s
population. The effective work of the wastewater treatment plant in Paljassaare
contributes to keeping the purity of water in the Baltic Sea and Gulf of
Finland and ensures the compliance with environmental requirements. This has
been achieved through continuous investments and improvements in technological
processes. In 2015, one of such investments – construction of the new coagulant
dosing point – was completed. Coagulant is the chemical used to remove
phosphorus from wastewater. The new dosing system significantly improves the
efficiency of phosphorus removal as well as enables a more effective use of
coagulant in the wastewater treatment process. 

We continue focusing on possible risks of floodings and pollution incidents as
well as on reducing the inconveniencies we may cause to customers. The number
of blockages characterizes the conditions of sewer network the best. The
sediments accumulating in the sewerage pipelines are the main causes of
blockages. In reducing the number of blockages, preventive actions, such as jet
washing the sewer network, play an important role. In 2015, we jet washed 155
km of sewer network and cleaned approximately 4 000 stormwater manholes. In
2015, a total on 5.1 km of sewer network was reconstructed across the City of
Tallinn. 

Sustainable development

As our activities impact nearly one third of Estonia’s population, initiatives
with a significant long-term positive effect on both our environment and
community are extremely important for us. One of such initiatives was an
extensive project of building fish passes at three dams of the reservoirs in
Ülemiste catchment area delivered in cooperation with the Environmental
Investments Centre. Tallinn’s main source of drinking water – Lake Ülemiste –
is surrounded by a large water catchment system covering the total area of ca 1
800 km2 to secure additional raw water storage for the lake. In order to
improve the biological diversity and natural environment of the rivers in the
catchment area and through that also the conditions of the entire river system,
fish passes were built on the Sae, Vaskjala and Kaunissaare dams. The total
cost of the project was over €350 thousand and the project of Vaskjala and Sae
fish passes was co-financed by the Cohesion Fund in the amount of €180
thousand. 

Our aspiration is to raise awareness and promote environmental lifestyle among
the population. We consistently work closely with our communities, both
children and adults, who use our services, to promote environmental awareness.
We encourage people to drink tap water through various campaigns and have
involved several restaurants, partners and the public therein. Moreover, we
organize discussions about water in kindergartens and schools. In 2015, we
contributed to the environmental awareness of 1 482 children. Thousands of
people visit our treatment plants each year. In 2015, the water treatment plant
and the wastewater treatment plant were visited by 3 500 people in total. This
demonstrates the interest of people in how our drinking water, which is of
vital importance for us all, is produced and how it gets to their tap. 

In 2015, the Company was awarded with the Golden Mark in CSR Index. The Award
was distributed by the CSR Forum, Ministry of Economic Affairs and
Communications, KPMG, Estonian Business School and Äripäev in collaboration. 





         Mariliis Mia Topp
         Head of Communications
         Ph: (+372) 62 62 275
         [email protected]