Ashghal records 82% decrease in drainage customer complaints

The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has recorded an 82% decrease in drainage customer complaints in the past ten years, despite a 51% increase in Qatar's population during the same period, a statement said.When it comes to Drainage Network Operation and Maintenance (DNOM), complaints registered within Assets Affairs have fallen to 2,995 by the end of 2023 from 16,522 in 2013."Within ten years, the infrastructure network expanded by 180%, from 2,836 km in 2013 to 7,953 km in 2023. We have developed cutting-edge drainage systems, expanded the highway drainage, and established contemporary, effective treatment plants with vast capacities,” said DNOM manager engineer Khalid Ahmad al-Obaidli.In the North Catchment Zone, notable advancements have been made in terms of customer service responsiveness and resolution times. Doha North Catchment Zone head engineer Abdullah Mohamad al-Komah said these advancements can be attributed to several factors, such as optimised operational organisation and strict adherence to maintenance plans and schedules.There has been a significant development as Ashghal has met the initial response rate and demonstrated a 99.6% improvement. During the past 18 months, the Treated Sewage Effluent (TSE) complaints average response time was 35mn and 49mn for other types of complaints, while all complaints were resolved within 1h 34mn, on average."We are constantly looking for innovative ways to modify and advance our technology, as well as our infrastructure, to make our customer services and operations more resilient to unanticipated events. Our complaint response rate increased by 99.9% and complaint resolved rate by 99.4%, except for the complaints related to the rainy season,” DNOM's Emergency and Customer Service Section head engineer Thani Ali al-Khulaifi.Significant improvement was observed in the targeted areas with the highest number of complaints with blockages after several local and non-local restaurants installed, and routinely maintained grease traps increased by 53% during the most recent inspection cycle done by the customer service team in DNOM alongside partners from PFC (Primary Framework Contractors). The overall compliance of a total of 2,973 restaurants and commercial kitchens resulted in lowering the amounts of fats, oils, grease and solid organic waste that leaked into the local drainage system causing several interruptions within the network operational cycle.In keeping with the success of customer service and as a result of continuous monitoring of the wastewater system, a significant drop of 64% has been demonstrated in customer complaints, which decreased from 3,416 complaints received over the previous four years to 1,240 complaints in 2023.House connection blockages have been reduced by 26% this year compared to 2022 due to the continuous assessment of the root causes and the efficient functionality of the blockage wastewater system, the statement added.