EUROPEAN EXPERIENCES IN BENCHMARKING WATER SERVICES

INPUT FOR BRAINSTORM SESSION MULTI-STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUE SEPTEMBER 9TH 2014, BRUSSELS

Benchmarking is an established practice to improve service for the citizens

• ECI1 aims to secure established practice– “Promote benchmarking for water services operators

similar to long standing practices in the Netherlands and Germany.”2

• EC-communication3 aims to increase public information - e.g. based on benchmarking

Successful service for the citizens

Voluntary bench-marking

Technical standards

Efficient organization

Dialogue + public

information Decisions close to

customers

1http://www.right2water.eu 2ECI (2014)3Communication COM(2014)177 final

20 years of benchmarking experience can support EC-initiative1 for better information

Better informa-

tion to

empower citizens

• IWA perfomance indicators

• Individual benchmarking assessment systems

Standardised performance indicator catalogues

• Voluntariness, confidentiality

• Reliability, quality, customer service, sustainability, efficiency

Guidelines of an established management tool

• Anonymous, aggregated, interpreted by experts

• Existing reports, defined scope of performance indicators

Standards for public information

1Communication COM(2014)177 final

Principles of its success

• “Performance assessment and performance improvement ...[are] consecutive components of benchmarking.”1

• Confidentiality facilitates learning • Voluntariness supports motivation and

management focus • Different performance areas (e.g. reliability,

quality, customer service, sustainability, and economic efficiency) have to be balanced

1Cabrera et al. (2011)

Recent surveys state clearly: Incorporation of management is success factor

• “Successful benchmarking is connected with the aims and strategies of a company”1

• „…data collection and monitoring (for regulatory reporting) …does not necessarily get the best results for customers… We propose that companies develop their own systems.“2

1Moeller et al. (2012) and Bertzbach et al. (2012) (Survey of 15 years of benchmarking in German wastewater services)2OFWAT (2012) (Proposals on new regulatory compliance in UK)

“Need for information on the part of politics and the public is generally welcomed”1

1ATT et al. (2002), Joint declaration on benchmarking of German Water Sector Associations2EEA (2014)3ATT et al. (2011)

Aggregated, anonymous data are published, when interpreted and analyzed by experts and when asked for, e.g. • Joint initiative on sharing performance

indicators with EEA• Profile of German Water Sector• Various public reports of benchmarking

projects• ...

Dialogue on scope of public information can build on different experiences

• Scope of benchmarking of water services is defined by benchmarking initiatives.

• Scope of performance indicators to be used for public information are defined already in some initiatives, e.g.:– EEA-report on knowledge bases (2014)1

– Defined industry performance indicators for profile of German Water industry (2013)2

– EWA “Key performance indicators for European wastewater services” (2009)3

1EEA (2014)2see Annex3EWA (2009)

Suggested way forward

• For better information of citizens build on established standards– Defined performance indicators– Guidelines of a management tool– Standards of public information

• Use existing know-how and experts

Scope of public information - German wastewater performance indicators1

1Defined performance indicators for anonymous, aggregated public information (Schulz, Graf (2013))

KQA01 [%]KSA01 [a] KNA65mod. [%] KKA01 [%] KWA01

[EUR / p.e+J4]

KQA05 [%] KSA05 [%] KNA80mod. [kWh/p.e] KKA10 [n / property] KWA70 [%]

KQA10 [%] [%] KNA85 [%] KWA100mod. [EUR / p.e]

KQA35 yes/ no KNA90 [h / FTE] KWA115mod. [EUR / p.e]

KNA100mod. [n / FTE]

KTA50 [m³ / p.e] KTA30 [m / p.e] KTA40 [%]

Working days lost through illness and accident per

employee

Treatment performance COD

Treatment performance Ntot

Treatment performance Ptot

Quality Reliability

Average sewer age

Rate of sewer length requiring rehabilitation

Inspection rate

SustainabilityPipeline rehabilitation (annual

sewer renewal rate) (10 years)

Specific energy consumption wastewater treatment

Energy recovery rate [%]

Continuation and further training measures

Management systems

Specific operating expenditure wastewater collection and transport

Specific operating expenditure wastewater

treatment

Customer Service

Level of connection for the sewer system

Complaints about wastewater disposal per service

connection

Economic Efficiency

Specific total expenditure wastewater disposal

Cost coverage (EU WFD) wastewater disposal [%]

Specific total wastewater quantity (own WWTP) Specific total sewer length

Average degree of utilisation wastewater treatment plants

Context Information