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Within the global sustainability agenda, companies must align their operations with specific Sustainable Goals (SGs) and develop corresponding budgeting strategies. This paper presents a robust multicriteria decision-making model tailored for a Spanish utility company specializing in water services. The model ensures that financial allocations reflect the company's vision and its interpretation of sustainable development within its service areas. This approach aims to promote objectivity, traceability, and sustainability in decision-making, as a critical component in achieving SGs. The article emphasizes the importance of aligning water companies' budget allocations with SGs, highlighting key indicators for consideration. It provides a practical illustration of how the company's financial allocations were synchronized with SGs using a multicriteria decision-making model. A case study is included, involving a budget allocation of 40 million euros compared across four scenarios with the historical average of budgets from the Past Three Investment Plans (P3IP). The results reveal significant variations in budget allocation across different infrastructure categories, demonstrating the system's robustness, such as a 70% variation in production infrastructures, 27% in transportation, 25% in distribution, and 40% in the remaining areas, depending on the scenario., Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work was supported by Catalan agency AGAUR through its research group support program (2021 SGR 00341). Finally, FP-B and PP wish to recognize the support from the Serra Hunter programme and NR the Industrial Doctorate grant provided by AGAUR., Peer Reviewed, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i Infraestructura, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::6 - Aigua Neta i Sanejament, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::11 - Ciutats i Comunitats Sostenibles, Objectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::12 - Producció i Consum Responsables, Postprint (published version)

Over recent decades there have been advances in the research behind adaptive policy approaches. More recently, emerging qualitative approaches for managing deep uncertainty has drawn the attention of planners in the water industry, particularly in water utilities. Despite interest from both the water industry and the research community to see these novel approaches applied, there have been limited applications and no published guidance to support the operationalisation of these approaches in water utilities. This thesis seeks to bridge this gap by answering the question: “What are the factors influencing the adoption of adaptive policy approaches by water utilities?” To answer this question, a design science approach was used to understand current barriers and enablers to the adoption of such methods in water utilities, and to design a framework to support adoption of adaptive approaches. This work was conducted through a grounded theory analysis of interviews of relevant water utility practitioners in Australia and the Netherlands and members of the decision making under deep uncertainty and adaptive planning research community internationally. The outcome of this study is a maturity framework of barriers and enablers to the uptake of adaptive approaches in water utilities, designed to support utilities and researchers in evaluating their level of adoption and to identify strategies for increasing the implementation of adaptive approaches where appropriate., Engineering and Policy Analysis

Over recent decades there have been advances in the research behind adaptive policy approaches. More recently, emerging qualitative approaches for managing deep uncertainty has drawn the attention of planners in the water industry, particularly in water utilities. Despite interest from both the water industry and the research community to see these novel approaches applied, there have been limited applications and no published guidance to support the operationalisation of these approaches in water utilities. This thesis seeks to bridge this gap by answering the question: “What are the factors influencing the adoption of adaptive policy approaches by water utilities?” To answer this question, a design science approach was used to understand current barriers and enablers to the adoption of such methods in water utilities, and to design a framework to support adoption of adaptive approaches. This work was conducted through a grounded theory analysis of interviews of relevant water utility practitioners in Australia and the Netherlands and members of the decision making under deep uncertainty and adaptive planning research community internationally. The outcome of this study is a maturity framework of barriers and enablers to the uptake of adaptive approaches in water utilities, designed to support utilities and researchers in evaluating their level of adoption and to identify strategies for increasing the implementation of adaptive approaches where appropriate., Engineering and Policy Analysis

This document provides descriptive data for a survey conducted September through November of 2019 on a random sample of residents in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia who receive in-home water from a municipal source. Details about sampling and data collection are available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/99860

This document provides descriptive data for a survey conducted September through November of 2019 on a random sample of residents in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia who receive in-home water from a municipal source. Details about sampling and data collection are available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/99860

This document provides descriptive data for a survey conducted September through November of 2019 on a random sample of residents in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia who receive in-home water from a municipal source. Details about sampling and data collection are available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/99860

This document provides descriptive data for a survey conducted September through November of 2019 on a random sample of residents in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia who receive in-home water from a municipal source. Details about sampling and data collection are available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10919/99860

Boundary work, defined as effort to mediate between knowledge and action, is a promising approach for facilitating knowledge co-production for sustainable development. Here, we investigate a case study of knowledge co-production, to assess the applicability of boundary work as a conceptual framework to support implementing adaptive management in the water sector. We refer to a boundary work classification recently proposed by Clark et al., (2016), based on three types of knowledge uses, i.e. enlightenment, decision-, and negotiation-support, and three types of sources, i.e. personal expertise, single, and multiple communities of expertise. Our empirical results confirm boundary work has been crucial for the three types of knowledge use. For enlightenment and decision support, effective interaction among knowledge producers and users was achieved through diverse boundary work practices, including joint agenda setting, and sharing of data and expertise. This initial boundary work eased subsequent knowledge co-production for decision-support and negotiations, in combination with stepping up of cooperation between relevant actors, suitable legislation and pressure for problem solving. Our analysis highlighted the temporal dimension matters-building trust around enlightenment first, and then using this as a basis for managing knowledge co-production for decision-, and negotiation support. We reconfirmed that boundary work is not a single time achievement, rather is a dynamic process, and we emphasized the importance of key actors driving the process, such as water utilities. Our results provide a rich case study of how strategic boundary work can facilitate knowledge co-production for adaptive management in the water sector. The boundary work practices employed here could also be transferred to other cases. Water utilities, as intermediaries between providers and beneficiaries of the important water-related ecosystem service of clean water provision, can indeed serve as, QC 20200605

This article gives information about current situation in the introduction of management systems that comply with ISO standards at water utilities in major Russian cities. Analysis of collected data has shown that the number of plants with international certificates is not large. It might be due to the fact that water and wastewater treatment plants in Russia used to be monopolies on the water services market and worked without any competitors until recently. Constant underfinancing of municipal institutes of water industry also interferes with international certification and other direction of forced development. The article analyses basic reasons for management systems' implementation on municipal water utilities. It compares experience and the results of implementation of Environmental Management Systems complying with ISO 14001 standard on water utilities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. It analyses prospects of international certification of water industry facilities at the current stage of Russian society development. © 2017 WIT Press.

Since the past few years, the smart city paradigm has been influencing sustainable urban water resources management. Smart metering schemes for end users have become an important strategy for water utilities to have an in-depth and fine-grained knowledge about urban water use. Beyond reducing certain labor costs, such as those related to manual meter reading, such detailed and continuous flow of information is said to enhance network efficiency and improve water planning by having more detailed demand patterns and forecasts. Research focusing on those initiatives has been very prolific in countries such as Australia. However, less academic attention has been paid to the development of smart metering in other geographies. This paper focuses on smart water metering in Spain and, more particularly, documents and reflects on the experience of the city of Alicante (southeastern Spain), a pioneer case of massive deployment of remote reading of water meters at the household level and for large urban customers. Through data and interviews with water managers from the water utility, we shed light on the costs and early benefits, as well as the potentialities and (unexpected) problems of this technology to contribute to more sustainable urban water cycles.

Boundary work, defined as effort to mediate between knowledge and action, is a promising approach for facilitating knowledge co-production for sustainable development. Here, we investigate a case study of knowledge co-production, to assess the applicability of boundary work as a conceptual framework to support implementing adaptive management in the water sector. We refer to a boundary work classification recently proposed by Clark et al., (2016), based on three types of knowledge uses, i.e. enlightenment, decision-, and negotiation-support, and three types of sources, i.e. personal expertise, single, and multiple communities of expertise. Our empirical results confirm boundary work has been crucial for the three types of knowledge use. For enlightenment and decision-support, effective interaction among knowledge producers and users was achieved through diverse boundary work practices, including joint agenda setting, and sharing of data and expertise. This initial boundary work eased subsequent knowledge co-production for decision-support and negotiations, in combination with stepping up of cooperation between relevant actors, suitable legislation and pressure for problem solving. Our analysis highlighted the temporal dimension matters - building trust around enlightenment first, and then using this as a basis for managing knowledge co-production for decision-, and negotiation support. We reconfirmed that boundary work is not a single time achievement, rather is a dynamic process, and we emphasized the importance of key actors driving the process, such as water utilities. Our results provide a rich case study of how strategic boundary work can facilitate knowledge co-production for adaptive management in the water sector. The boundary work practices employed here could also be transferred to other cases. Water utilities, as intermediaries between providers and beneficiaries of the important water-related ecosystem service of clean water provision, can indeed serve a

Since the past few years, the smart city paradigm has been influencing sustainable urban water resources management. Smart metering schemes for end users have become an important strategy for water utilities to have an in-depth and fine-grained knowledge about urban water use. Beyond reducing certain labor costs, such as those related to manual meter reading, such detailed and continuous flow of information is said to enhance network efficiency and improve water planning by having more detailed demand patterns and forecasts. Research focusing on those initiatives has been very prolific in countries such as Australia. However, less academic attention has been paid to the development of smart metering in other geographies. This paper focuses on smart water metering in Spain and, more particularly, documents and reflects on the experience of the city of Alicante (southeastern Spain), a pioneer case of massive deployment of remote reading of water meters at the household level and for large urban customers. Through data and interviews with water managers from the water utility, we shed light on the costs and early benefits, as well as the potentialities and (unexpected) problems of this technology to contribute to more sustainable urban water cycles.

The three chapters of this dissertation investigate two policy issues faced by water utilities: infrastructure investment and water budget programs. Water utilities have infrastructure that is deteriorating at an increasing rate, necessitating higher rates of investment from ratepayers. At the same time utilities must improve their management of existing water supplies in order to postpone the need to procure water supplies with a higher marginal cost. Water budgets are a way to manage scarce water resources more efficiently. The first chapter focuses on customer preferences for infrastructure investments. Individuals are willing-to-pay to have fewer outages at home, shorter average outage lengths, greater advance notification, more urban greenspace irrigated with reuse water, and greater use of renewable energy. The correlated attributes model indicates evidence of adaptive behavior towards longer outages and that individuals who prefer high levels of reuse infrastructure investment also prefer high levels of investment in renewable energy. These results are useful to policymakers who need to raise rates to fund the infrastructure investment gap. The second chapter studies the impact of model assumptions about the marginal utility of income (MUI) by comparing MWTP distributions from preference-space and WTP-space mixed logit models. In preference-space models, the MUI, whether heterogeneous or fixed, is the denominator of the MWTP ratio. WTP-space models estimate the MUI separately from the attribute coefficients that represent the MWTP. The resulting MWTP distribution using WTP-space estimates has a tighter distribution and no extreme outliers. From a behavioral standpoint, the distribution closely resembles a preference-space fixed cost model. The third chapter examines the water budget program for irrigation-only customers. Water budgets are a new conservation tool that combine aspects of quantity restrictions with increasing price blocks to encourage efficie

The three chapters of this dissertation investigate two policy issues faced by water utilities: infrastructure investment and water budget programs. Water utilities have infrastructure that is deteriorating at an increasing rate, necessitating higher rates of investment from ratepayers. At the same time utilities must improve their management of existing water supplies in order to postpone the need to procure water supplies with a higher marginal cost. Water budgets are a way to manage scarce water resources more efficiently. The first chapter focuses on customer preferences for infrastructure investments. Individuals are willing-to-pay to have fewer outages at home, shorter average outage lengths, greater advance notification, more urban greenspace irrigated with reuse water, and greater use of renewable energy. The correlated attributes model indicates evidence of adaptive behavior towards longer outages and that individuals who prefer high levels of reuse infrastructure investment also prefer high levels of investment in renewable energy. These results are useful to policymakers who need to raise rates to fund the infrastructure investment gap. The second chapter studies the impact of model assumptions about the marginal utility of income (MUI) by comparing MWTP distributions from preference-space and WTP-space mixed logit models. In preference-space models, the MUI, whether heterogeneous or fixed, is the denominator of the MWTP ratio. WTP-space models estimate the MUI separately from the attribute coefficients that represent the MWTP. The resulting MWTP distribution using WTP-space estimates has a tighter distribution and no extreme outliers. From a behavioral standpoint, the distribution closely resembles a preference-space fixed cost model. The third chapter examines the water budget program for irrigation-only customers. Water budgets are a new conservation tool that combine aspects of quantity restrictions with increasing price blocks to encourage efficie

Energy efficiency is currently a hot topic on all regional, national, and global stages. Accurate measurements on how energy is being used over a period of time can improve performance of the drinking water utility substantially and reduce energy consumption. Nevertheless, the drinking water industry does not have a specific benchmarking practice to evaluate its energy performance of the system. Therefore, there are no standards to compare energy use between water utilities that have a variety of system characteristics. The goal of this research is to develop quantitative approach to select energy benchmarking parameters of the water system, so the drinking water utilities can use those parameters to improve their energy efficiency. In addition to a typical benchmarking of drinking water utilities, the energy benchmarking can specifically compare energy efficiency of a utility with other utilities nationwide. The research developed a regression model based on the statistical representation of the energy use and descriptive characteristics of the drinking water utilities data throughout the U.S. Methodologies to eliminate singularity and multicollinearity from collinear survey dataset are discussed. The all possible regressions were chosen as parameters selection methodology to identify a subset of most significant parameters, i.e. system characteristics, that can mathematically correspond to energy use across different utilities. As a result, the energy benchmarking would be able to calculate the predicted total energy use of the system from given system characteristics.

Energy efficiency is currently a hot topic on all regional, national, and global stages. Accurate measurements on how energy is being used over a period of time can improve performance of the drinking water utility substantially and reduce energy consumption. Nevertheless, the drinking water industry does not have a specific benchmarking practice to evaluate its energy performance of the system. Therefore, there are no standards to compare energy use between water utilities that have a variety of system characteristics. The goal of this research is to develop quantitative approach to select energy benchmarking parameters of the water system, so the drinking water utilities can use those parameters to improve their energy efficiency. In addition to a typical benchmarking of drinking water utilities, the energy benchmarking can specifically compare energy efficiency of a utility with other utilities nationwide. The research developed a regression model based on the statistical representation of the energy use and descriptive characteristics of the drinking water utilities data throughout the U.S. Methodologies to eliminate singularity and multicollinearity from collinear survey dataset are discussed. The all possible regressions were chosen as parameters selection methodology to identify a subset of most significant parameters, i.e. system characteristics, that can mathematically correspond to energy use across different utilities. As a result, the energy benchmarking would be able to calculate the predicted total energy use of the system from given system characteristics.

The capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, has suffered a shortage of piped water, since the 1980s. The national utility company in charge of supply, SANAA, opted to supply water intermittently, which poses a problem for the population who cannot afford water storage facilities. Interviews were conducted with the various authorities involved in the water sector to reveal why SANAA has not been able to incorporate new sources of water and therefore satisfy the needs of the growing population. The research revealed that SANAA's operations have been hindered by the fast and unorganized growth of the city, the failure of other governmental agencies to comply with their mission efficiently, and also by the intervention of the Central Government in its operations. Stability of SANAA's management and coordination between governmental agencies are essential for the efficient operation and long-term planning of and investment in the water sector., QC 20140626

Concerns regarding rising water and sewerage prices have generated a renewed interest in measuring and assessing water utility performance. An efficiency analysis can serve as a basis for price setting decisions. This article examines the influence of ownership structure and corporate size on the efficiency of Estonian water companies, and assesses the empirical efficiency gaps through the lens of corporate governance and natural monopoly theories. To assess efficiency and the influence of ownership and corporate size on efficiency, we use a Data Envelopment Analysis and truncated regression with maximum likelihood estimation as well as an ANOVA test. The study sample consists of 43 water utilities, serving more than 68% of the Estonian population. One main finding of the study reveals that ownership structure does not affect the efficiency of Estonian water utilities, while efficiency does increase with corporate size: large water utilities outperform small utilities. An additional conclusion is that the Estonian water sector is too fragmented.

There is an assumption that the inclusion of civil society in governance processes promotes democratic performance and contributes to 'good governance', in the sense of pluralism, accountability and transparency. This paper refers to the governance process of the water utility in Accra involving the private sector, and examines the validity of the assumed roles regarding the inclusion of civil society in the governance process. For the purposes of this study, civil society is defined as 'non-state and non-market organisations that can, or have the potential to, champion democratic governance reforms and act as agents for political and socio-economic change'. Contrary to assumptions made about the inclusion of civil society, the analysis herein shows that the inclusion of civil groups in the governance process of the water utility led to hostile and undemocratic processes and to weak indicators of 'good governance'. The main concern of the key actors was centred on how to build consensus around the privatisation programme of the water utility. 'Managing consensus', however, is an inappropriate planning measure. It is argued here that the focus should rather be on how to design governance structures and arrangements, mobilised by legitimate and committed political leadership, to build and enhance the capacity of governance processes., QC 20100628. QC 20120210 (Published)

Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, has experienced an unsatisfied water demand during the last three decades. The state owned water utility in charge of the water supply of the country, SANAA, has faced this deficit by providing an intermittent water supply. The intermittent water supply has increased the gap between the rich and the poor, who cannot afford water storage facilities. Theories explain water scarcity either by low precipitation or by lack of investment in water structures. This thesis investigates the applicability of both explanations by quantifying the annual precipitation in the sub catchments with water supply potential for Tegucigalpa, and identifying the problems which caused the lack of investment into the water infrastructure. The analysis concluded that even if the annual precipitation is abundant, it is not evenly distributed in time and in space. Furthermore, it is argued that the financial limitations which hindered the lack of investment in water structures originated in the low tariffs imposed, and to the practices of the patronage system., QC 20111207

QC 20111207

Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, has experienced an unsatisfied water demand during the last three decades. The state owned water utility in charge of the water supply of the country, SANAA, has faced this deficit by providing an intermittent water supply. The intermittent water supply has increased the gap between the rich and the poor, who cannot afford water storage facilities. Theories explain water scarcity either by low precipitation or by lack of investment in water structures. This thesis investigates the applicability of both explanations by quantifying the annual precipitation in the sub catchments with water supply potential for Tegucigalpa, and identifying the problems which caused the lack of investment into the water infrastructure. The analysis concluded that even if the annual precipitation is abundant, it is not evenly distributed in time and in space. Furthermore, it is argued that the financial limitations which hindered the lack of investment in water structures originated in the low tariffs imposed, and to the practices of the patronage system., QC 20111207

There is an assumption that the inclusion of civil society in governance processes promotes democratic performance and contributes to 'good governance', in the sense of pluralism, accountability and transparency. This paper refers to the governance process of the water utility in Accra involving the private sector, and examines the validity of the assumed roles regarding the inclusion of civil society in the governance process. For the purposes of this study, civil society is defined as 'non-state and non-market organisations that can, or have the potential to, champion democratic governance reforms and act as agents for political and socio-economic change'. Contrary to assumptions made about the inclusion of civil society, the analysis herein shows that the inclusion of civil groups in the governance process of the water utility led to hostile and undemocratic processes and to weak indicators of 'good governance'. The main concern of the key actors was centred on how to build consensus around the privatisation programme of the water utility. 'Managing consensus', however, is an inappropriate planning measure. It is argued here that the focus should rather be on how to design governance structures and arrangements, mobilised by legitimate and committed political leadership, to build and enhance the capacity of governance processes., QC 20100628. QC 20120210 (Published)

There is an assumption that the inclusion of civil society in governance processes promotes democratic performance and contributes to 'good governance', in the sense of pluralism, accountability and transparency. This paper refers to the governance process of the water utility in Accra involving the private sector, and examines the validity of the assumed roles regarding the inclusion of civil society in the governance process. For the purposes of this study, civil society is defined as 'non-state and non-market organisations that can, or have the potential to, champion democratic governance reforms and act as agents for political and socio-economic change'. Contrary to assumptions made about the inclusion of civil society, the analysis herein shows that the inclusion of civil groups in the governance process of the water utility led to hostile and undemocratic processes and to weak indicators of 'good governance'. The main concern of the key actors was centred on how to build consensus around the privatisation programme of the water utility. 'Managing consensus', however, is an inappropriate planning measure. It is argued here that the focus should rather be on how to design governance structures and arrangements, mobilised by legitimate and committed political leadership, to build and enhance the capacity of governance processes., QC 20100628. QC 20120210 (Published)

There is an assumption that the inclusion of civil society in governance processes promotes democratic performance and contributes to 'good governance', in the sense of pluralism, accountability and transparency. This paper refers to the governance process of the water utility in Accra involving the private sector, and examines the validity of the assumed roles regarding the inclusion of civil society in the governance process. For the purposes of this study, civil society is defined as 'non-state and non-market organisations that can, or have the potential to, champion democratic governance reforms and act as agents for political and socio-economic change'. Contrary to assumptions made about the inclusion of civil society, the analysis herein shows that the inclusion of civil groups in the governance process of the water utility led to hostile and undemocratic processes and to weak indicators of 'good governance'. The main concern of the key actors was centred on how to build consensus around the privatisation programme of the water utility. 'Managing consensus', however, is an inappropriate planning measure. It is argued here that the focus should rather be on how to design governance structures and arrangements, mobilised by legitimate and committed political leadership, to build and enhance the capacity of governance processes., QC 20100628. QC 20120210 (Published)

Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, has experienced an unsatisfied water demand during the last three decades. The state owned water utility in charge of the water supply of the country, SANAA, has faced this deficit by providing an intermittent water supply. The intermittent water supply has increased the gap between the rich and the poor, who cannot afford water storage facilities. Theories explain water scarcity either by low precipitation or by lack of investment in water structures. This thesis investigates the applicability of both explanations by quantifying the annual precipitation in the sub catchments with water supply potential for Tegucigalpa, and identifying the problems which caused the lack of investment into the water infrastructure. The analysis concluded that even if the annual precipitation is abundant, it is not evenly distributed in time and in space. Furthermore, it is argued that the financial limitations which hindered the lack of investment in water structures originated in the low tariffs imposed, and to the practices of the patronage system., QC 20111207

Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, has experienced an unsatisfied water demand during the last three decades. The state owned water utility in charge of the water supply of the country, SANAA, has faced this deficit by providing an intermittent water supply. The intermittent water supply has increased the gap between the rich and the poor, who cannot afford water storage facilities. Theories explain water scarcity either by low precipitation or by lack of investment in water structures. This thesis investigates the applicability of both explanations by quantifying the annual precipitation in the sub catchments with water supply potential for Tegucigalpa, and identifying the problems which caused the lack of investment into the water infrastructure. The analysis concluded that even if the annual precipitation is abundant, it is not evenly distributed in time and in space. Furthermore, it is argued that the financial limitations which hindered the lack of investment in water structures originated in the low tariffs imposed, and to the practices of the patronage system., QC 20111207

There is an assumption that the inclusion of civil society in governance processes promotes democratic performance and contributes to 'good governance', in the sense of pluralism, accountability and transparency. This paper refers to the governance process of the water utility in Accra involving the private sector, and examines the validity of the assumed roles regarding the inclusion of civil society in the governance process. For the purposes of this study, civil society is defined as 'non-state and non-market organisations that can, or have the potential to, champion democratic governance reforms and act as agents for political and socio-economic change'. Contrary to assumptions made about the inclusion of civil society, the analysis herein shows that the inclusion of civil groups in the governance process of the water utility led to hostile and undemocratic processes and to weak indicators of 'good governance'. The main concern of the key actors was centred on how to build consensus around the privatisation programme of the water utility. 'Managing consensus', however, is an inappropriate planning measure. It is argued here that the focus should rather be on how to design governance structures and arrangements, mobilised by legitimate and committed political leadership, to build and enhance the capacity of governance processes., QC 20100628. QC 20120210 (Published)

Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, has experienced an unsatisfied water demand during the last three decades. The state owned water utility in charge of the water supply of the country, SANAA, has faced this deficit by providing an intermittent water supply. The intermittent water supply has increased the gap between the rich and the poor, who cannot afford water storage facilities. Theories explain water scarcity either by low precipitation or by lack of investment in water structures. This thesis investigates the applicability of both explanations by quantifying the annual precipitation in the sub catchments with water supply potential for Tegucigalpa, and identifying the problems which caused the lack of investment into the water infrastructure. The analysis concluded that even if the annual precipitation is abundant, it is not evenly distributed in time and in space. Furthermore, it is argued that the financial limitations which hindered the lack of investment in water structures originated in the low tariffs imposed, and to the practices of the patronage system., QC 20111207

This paper uses a governance theory framework to analyse the introductory process for the private sector managing and operating the public water utility Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL). The analysis was performed from three standpoints: process inputs, process conduct and process outcomes. The consultation process on involvement of the private sector was hostile and resulted in a "light" form of private sector participation in the form of a management contract that can be considered a de facto compromise, although not deliberate, by stakeholders. The challenges in improving the water sector performance and water supply services are profound. Because of continuing institutional, social, political and legal constraints, the involvement of the private sector per se is not the solution to providing long-term improvement in water services. The article concludes that it is misleading to leapfrog from government to governance, calling for the transmission of a governance "recipe", as conceptualised in the Western context, and to assume that it can work in an unaccommodating institutional context., QC 20100628

This paper examines the introduction process for the private sector to manage and operate the public water utility Ghana Water Company limited (GWCL) based on governance theory framework for the analysis. The analyses are integrated under two sections: analysis of the governance process and analysis of process outcomes and institutional context. The consultation process on involvement of the private sector was hostile and resulted in a ‘light’ form of private sector participation in the form of a management contract that can be considered a de facto compromise, although not deliberate, by stakeholders. The challenges in improving the water sector performance and water supply services are profound. Because of institutional constraints, the involvement of the private sector per se is not the solution to provide long-term improved water services., QC 20120215

Urban drinking-water supplies are still implicated as pathways for the transmission of waterborne disease. A move toward risk informed, proactive water system management has occurred over the past decade and is advocated in current international drinking water guidelines. Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment (QMRA) is a tool with potential for aiding health risk management; however the refinement of scientific based practical methods to support that philosophy still requires development. This thesis focused on the water utility, its responsibility to manage microbial water safety, and how probabilistic QMRA may aid in developing management strategies. A framework for waterborne disease risk assessment from urban supply systems was derived and tested on an Australian case study. The main premise was that, in order for risk assessment outcomes to inform the management process, the steps should incorporate the concepts of risk variability, the explicit event conditions that can drive it, and that examination of QMRA sensitivity to various risk scenarios/model uncertainties is undertaken. The identified management uses were: (i) prioritising for attention issues hampering the system's ability to meet or the assessor's ability to interpret against (e.g. knowledge gaps about the system), a water quality health target; and (ii) identifying potential strategies or control points for addressing those issues. Additionally, rarely occurring, high impact, adverse fluctuations in treated water quality (and consumer infection risks), especially from source water contaminant "peaks", are highly, nearly totally, influential over the extent of risks averaged over longer, say annual, periods. As such, a case is made calling for widespread adoption of health targets that refer to tolerable consumer risks per exposure, rather than or as well as the current common practice of expressing targets in terms of risks from exposure over a year or lifetime. Doing so may provide incentive and

Dans cet article, nous analysons la structure des coûts d’alimentation en eau potable des villes de Côte d’Ivoire à partir d’un panel des centres de production. Considérant les services d’eau comme des monopoles multi-produits fournissant conjointement deux biens (volumes d’eau facturés et volumes d’eau perdus), nous estimons une fonction de coût translog multi-produits sur la base de la dualité entre fonctions de production et de coût. Les différentes mesures de rendements calculées révèlent que le service d’eau moyen ivoirien produit dans la zone des rendements constants. Cependant, en classant les services en petits, moyens et grands selon différents critères, il apparaît clairement que l’opérateur a un avantage économique à accroître sa production et les connections dans la plupart des petits et moyens services. Aussi, la présence d’économies de gamme révèle que la production conjointe des deux biens considérés dans certaines proportions est plus bénéfique que l’amélioration du rendement du réseau. Enfin, les évaluations des coûts estimés font apparaître un coût marginal supérieur en moyenne aux prix marginaux des premières tranches de la grille tarifaire.Classification JEL : C33, D24, Q25., Structure of Water Supply Costs: an Analysis using a Panel of Ivorian Production UnitsThis paper analyses the structure of water supply costs in Côte d’Ivoire municipalities using a panel of water utilities. Considering water utilities as multi-output monopolies providing jointly two goods (billed water and lost water), we estimate a multi-output translog cost fonction using duality between production and cost function. We compute several measures of return to reveal that, at the mean level, Ivorian water utilities operate with constant return to scale. But, ranking our production units by size using various criteria, it clearly appears that it is more profitable for the water operator to increase its production and connection in most small and medium utilities. Moreover, the presence of significant economies of scope reveals that the jointly production of the two goods considered in a certain degree is more beneficial than improving the network return. Finally, the estimated marginal cost at the mean is higher than the marginal prices of the first blocks of the tariff system.JEL Classification: C33, D24, Q25.