In his letter entitled WSC resources (TMID, 2 February), Giovanni De Martino from Mosta, regaled readers with information about the number of water leaks he had observed, when he had reported them and when we allegedly repaired them. His letter not only gave details of dates, but even the days, hours and minutes. He even told us that he sent his letter on a Sunday morning at 10am.
We checked our records and confirmed that the leaks he reported are more or less correct. However, we believe that Mr De Martino was incorrect in concluding that the corporation’s response time is proof of inefficiency. A minor leak outside (what we term WRO, or water running out) is usually repaired within 24 hours, but may take longer if the job requires detecting the leak using listening equipment.
For readers’ information, leaks in Triq Gafà, Mosta were reported on 10 and 11 January at 3.36pm and 2.50pm respectively and were repaired the following morning. The leak in Triq Ruzar Mizzi was logged on 10 January at 6.13pm and again, repaired the following morning, i.e. in less than 24 hours.
The leak in Triq Carmel Dimech was reported on 25 January at 10.30am and took 48 hours to repair as it required detection at night during the silent hours. We feel that these response times are reasonable, although admittedly, we are constantly seeking ways to fine-tune our methodology and improve our efficiency.
For obvious reasons, the Water Services Corporation gives priority to WRI (water running in) cases which could damage consumers’ internal property and to more serious cases of water mains failures that cause the loss of thousands of litres of water.
In these cases our response time is practically instantaneous.
Your correspondent’s other comments about our billing periods and our (sic) “goodwill scheme” are also completely unfounded.
In today’s world where people are so busy that they hardly have the time to fleetingly report a single water leak, we appreciate that Mr De Martino found the time to give his readers such detailed information about the leaks in his area.
Stephen Zerafa
Head Public Relations
Water Services Corporation