The quality of service: An overall performance assessment for water utilities

Pinto, Francisco Silva; Costa, Ana Sara; Figueira, José Rui; Marques, Rui Cunha

doi:10.1016/j.omega.2016.08.006

Cited by 48 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…Since the 1990s, governments of many countries and organizations have emphasized the importance of the concept of sustainability [18]. There is no consensus on the definition of this concept, although it is widely agreed that it must incorporate social, environmental, and economic factors which are interconnected ( [19,20]). The water industry has not ignored this trend and, currently, it has extensively recognized its important role in establishing and operating sustainable water supplies and wastewater treatment systems [2,21].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Two-Phase Method to Assess the Sustainability of Water Companies

2019

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Composite indicators are becoming more relevant for evaluating the performance of water companies from a holistic perspective. Some of them are related with economic aspects, and others focus on social and environmental features. Consequently, a multidimensional evaluation is necessary for handling the great amount of information provided by multiple single indicators of a different nature. This paper presents a two-phase approach to evaluate the sustainability of water companies. First, a partial composite indicator for each dimension (social, environmental, economic) is obtained using multi-criteria decision making (MCDM). Then, a global indicator is obtained, in terms of the values reached in the previous stage for every partial indicator, by means an optimization problem rooted in data envelopment analysis (DEA). Our proposal offers the possibility of analyzing the performance of each water company under each dimension that characterizes the concept of sustainability, as well as a joint assessment including all the dimensions, facilitating the decision-making process. We apply it to evaluate the sustainability of 163 Portuguese water companies. The results show the strengths and weaknesses of each unit and serve as a guideline to decision-makers on the aspects for improving the performance of water utilities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Two-Phase Method to Assess the Sustainability of Water Companies

2019

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“…When analyzing more complex cases, multiple criteria sorting based methods may be used to select the optimized strategy [14]. Figure 2 shows how the selected strategy permits obtaining a building characterized by high energy and environmental performances, with an investment that can be feasible for the Administration.…”

Section: Discussion and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Procedure to Perform Multi-Objective Optimization for Sustainable Design of Buildings

et al. 2016

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When dealing with sustainable design concepts in new construction or in retrofitting existing buildings, it is useful to define both economic and environmental performance indicators, in order to select the optimal technical solutions. In most of the cases, the definition of the optimal strategy is not trivial because it is necessary to solve a multi-objective problem with a high number of the variables subjected to nonlinear constraints. In this study, a powerful multi-objective optimization genetic algorithm, NSGAII (Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II), is used to derive the Pareto optimal solutions, which can illustrate the whole trade-off relationship between objectives. A method is then proposed, to introduce uncertainty evaluation in the optimization procedure. A new university building is taken as a case study to demonstrate how each step of the optimization process should be performed. The results achieved turn out to be reliable and show the suitableness of this procedure to define both economic and environmental performance indicators. Similar analysis on a set of buildings representatives of a specific region might be used to assist local/national administrations in the definition of appropriate legal limits that will permit a strategic optimized extension of renewable energy production. Finally, the proposed approach could be applied to similar optimization models for the optimal planning of sustainable buildings, in order to define the best solutions among non-optimal ones.

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“…Regarding the selection of variables, following Marques et al [28], three criteria were considered: (i) the particularities of the water industry; (ii) the actual data elements available in the Portuguese dataset, and (iii) examples in the literature [16,29].…”

Section: Description Of the Samplementioning

confidence: 99%

Are Frontier Efficiency Methods Adequate to Compare the Efficiency of Water Utilities for Regulatory Purposes?

Estruch-Juan

Rochera

Molinos-Senante

et al. 2020

Water

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Frontier efficiency methods have been recurrently used in the water sector to assess the performance of water utilities. These methods are also used for yardstick regulation, with greater efficiency being sought by creating competition between the utilities, which can have an impact on decision-making processes, such as tariff setting. This study analyzes the adequacy and limitations of these methods for regulatory purposes, particularly how they deal with data uncertainty and their capacity to manage large number of variables. In order to achieve this, two representative methods—a nonparametric technique (data envelopment analysis) and an econometric one (stochastic frontier analysis)—are applied to an audited sample of 194 water utilities. Results will show that the results from the methods may not be considered conclusive in the water sector and their application should be carried out with considerable reservations.

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The quality of service: An overall performance assessment for water utilities

Cited by 48 publications

References 38 publications

A Two-Phase Method to Assess the Sustainability of Water Companies

A Two-Phase Method to Assess the Sustainability of Water Companies

A Procedure to Perform Multi-Objective Optimization for Sustainable Design of Buildings

Are Frontier Efficiency Methods Adequate to Compare the Efficiency of Water Utilities for Regulatory Purposes?

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