Customer Service Charter
Consumer 2006/07 Charter: English    Afrikaans    Xhosa
 Consumer 2001/02 Charter: English    Afrikaans    Xhosa
Guidelines for compulsory national standards
Government notice department of water affairs and forestry
Proposed amendments: Consumer charter

Water Services aims to provide equitable, sustainable, people-centred, affordable and credible water services to all. To help us do so, we have created a charter for our consumers, in which we pledge to:

• ensure availability and reliability of water resources at all times
• build consumer satisfaction and an enabling environment for the development of meaningful relationships with all stakeholders
• build community awareness, knowledge transfer and other skills
• establish a fair tariff that ensures all residents have access to basic water and sanitation, including
  
  

For indigent households, we pledge to:

• ensure the implementation of best management practices in the provision of water services
• provide 6 000 litres of free water per month as determined by the tariff policy
  
• provide 4 200 litres of free sanitation per month as determined by the tariff policy

(Note: This policy is currently being considered for revision – any changes will be communicated to our consumers beforehand)

• resolve technical complaints within 24 hours
• minimise the impact on the environment by ensuring efficient operation of the wastewater system
• promote use of alternative water sources for irrigation and industry
  
  

Consumer responsibilities

Consumers also have responsibilities in respect of saving and using water. These are to:

• adhere to acts, municipal ordinances, by-laws and water restriction notices
• be water conservation conscious and make saving water a way of life
• not to flush foreign objects, used oil and materials into the sewer system
• not to discharge rain / surface water to the sewer system
• pay for services over and above any free allocation
• report by-law contraventions to the water hotline number
• ensure that the water meter and sewer boundary chamber are always accessible
  
  

In order to maintain the above consumer charter and continuously improve consumer service, we are installing a quality management system to meet the requirements of ISO 9001:2000.

Please direct all comments and suggestions and report a blocked sewer, a burst water main, a leaking pipe or a taste complaint to our water hotline number on 0860 10 30 54.

Please note that the downloadable documents listed in this section are in Adobe Acrobat format (PDF). If you do not have the Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, please click on the icon on the left to download a free copy from the Adobe website.