The Smart Water Networks Forum (SWAN) has today released a new white paper examining how five, international water regulators in Australia, Brazil, The Netherlands, UK, and U.S., uniquely benchmark and incentivise their utility operators to improve the quality of service.

 “In developing this report, SWAN has recognised the vital role of water regulators in driving utilities to improve their overall performance,” said Amir Peleg, SWAN Chairman, Founder and CEO of TaKaDu. “Customer service incentives will lead to ‘Smart Water’ initiatives as utilities are required to stay better informed about their customers and network operations as a whole.”

Each global water regulator has innovative incentive strategies, which can be leveraged by other water regulators. For example, in Australia, the State of Victoria uses the “mystery caller” to evaluate call centre performance based on the operators’ greeting manner. In Brazil, winners of the National Sanitation Quality Award are hosted in an elaborate gala award ceremony.

The water regulator in the Netherlands directly surveys nearly 12,000 customers, while U.S. utilities can develop their own benchmarking exercises or be guided by an association’s voluntary assessment program. In contrast, UK water companies must propose long-term, outcomes with linked financial rewards and penalties needed to deliver high customer satisfaction.

The full report is only available to SWAN Forum members. Membership details can be found at www.swan-forum.com

SWAN is a worldwide industry forum promoting the development and adoption of data technologies in water networks, making them smarter, more efficient, and sustainable. SWAN members include technology innovators, water utilities, engineering and consulting firms, academics, researchers, and investors.