Benchmark Performance Indicators for Utility Water and Wastewater Pipelines Infrastructure
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 144, Issue 3
Abstract
Over the past decade, many performance indicators have been developed for water utilities to track their system performance. This study proposes a set of normalized and time-integrated benchmarking performance indicators for sustainable long-term management of water distribution and wastewater collection networks. The benchmarking performance indicators are aggregated into three categories: (1) infrastructure, (2) sociopolitical, and (3) financial. To demonstrate the use and value of the benchmarking performance indicators, a system dynamics model is used to present a case study for three water utilities in southern Ontario, Canada. This study shows that the benchmarking performance indicators will allow water utilities with different attributes (such as number of customers, network pipe age profile, pipe material type, network size, and location) to benchmark the long-term variation in their performance with other utilities regionally and nationally. Furthermore, the benchmarking performance indicators can be used to forecast the future behavior of the system to ensure decision-making policies that will drive improvements and best practices.
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Data Availability Statement
Data generated or analyzed during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Natural Science and Engineering Council of Canada, the University of Waterloo, and the Centre for Advancement of Trenchless Technology located at the University of Waterloo. We also acknowledge the City of Waterloo, City of Niagara Falls, and City of Cambridge for their financial support, provision of data, and sharing of valuable insights on water utility management.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 144 • Issue 3 • March 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 16, 2016
Accepted: Aug 11, 2017
Published online: Jan 6, 2018
Published in print: Mar 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Jun 6, 2018
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