As part of ongoing efforts to improve our work and better understand the needs of customers, the Philadelphia Water Department is conducting a comprehensive survey intended collect feedback on a wide range of services.
The 2017 Customer Feedback Survey, made possible through a partnership with the University of Pennsylvania, measures public opinion and allows the department to gauge what people in Philadelphia think about PWD and the services we provide.
Any customer over 18 is eligible to take the survey. Participants will automatically enter a raffle to win one of many $100 gift cards. Survey instructions have been included in a flyer sent along with May 2017 water bills.
The survey can be accessed online here or by texting @WATER to 39242.
Topics we are evaluating include general perceptions of PWD, drinking water habits, bill paying satisfaction, service evaluation, awareness of notification methods and preferences, construction site satisfaction and customer assistance program evaluation and satisfaction.
While we have long welcomed and applied feedback from residents, this survey will help us use customer opinions to prioritize and improve services and customer interactions across the board.
“As a department, we put a tremendous amount of work into ensuring our customers have around-the-clock access to top-quality water, protecting our waterways and managing water from storms,” says PWD Commissioner Debra McCarty. “We know that delivering these essential services is incredibly important to the health of our city, and the goal of this survey is to check in with our customers and get a sense of how the work we do is being perceived and what we can do to improve.”
The survey takes less than five minutes to complete, and customers' answers and personal information will be kept completely confidential. The University of Pennsylvania will analyze the data and prepare a report for PWD.
In serving Philadelphia's more than 1.5 million residents, PWD is responsible for the operation and maintenance of three drinking water treatment plants, three wastewater treatment plants, more than 6,000 miles of water mains and sewers, 72,000 inlets, 25,000 fire hydrants and various pumping stations throughout the city.
The department also manages stormwater through Green City, Clean Waters green infrastructure investments and converts wastewater into fertilizer and renewable fuels at our Biosolids Recycling Center.
