Comparing the dynamic performance of wastewater treatment systems: A metafrontier Malmquist productivity index approach

Molinos-Senante, María; Hernández-Sancho, Francesc; Sala-Garrido, Ramón

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2015.07.018

Cited by 31 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…In this strand of literature, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is the most used technique: it can manage a multiplicity of inputs and outputs and it does not require the selection of a specific functional form, thus resulting useful to estimate different model specifications, e.g. non-radial DEA (Hernández-Sancho et al, 2011a;Molinos-Senante et al, 2014b), DEA with uncertainty (Sala-Garrido et al, 2012a), DEA metafrontier approach (Sala-Garrido et al, 2011), Malmquist Productivity Index (Hernández-Sancho et al, 2011b;Molinos-Senante et al, 2015a). Moreover, several studies propose a further assessment of the WWTP environmental impact by means of a second stage analysis, to detect the effects of specific WWTP features on the efficiency.…”

Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Table 2 presents 2012belong to this first strand of literature. Alternatively, outputs can be chosen among the eliminated contaminants and the quantity of pollutants removed to value the production of a plant or as the difference between the pollution level in the influent and effluent, namely Net Environmental Benefits (see for example Hsiao et al, 2007;Hernández-Sancho et al, 2011a,b;Sala-Garrido et al, 2011Fuentes et al, 2015;Molinos-Senante et al, 2015a). After the preliminary screening process and in compliance with the first strand of the literature, the treated water, expressed in m 3 , is chosen as output (y 1 ).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Water pollution in wastewater treatment plants: An efficiency analysis with undesirable output

D’Inverno

Carosi

Romano

et al. 2018

European Journal of Operational Research

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The environmental efficiency of 96 Tuscan (Italian) wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is investigated taking into account the quality of the outgoing water in terms of pollutant. In this regard, the presence of the residual nitrogen in the outgoing treated water is considered as undesirable output. The efficiency analysis is performed by applying a novel integrated Analytic Hierarchy Process/Non-radial Directional Distance Function (AHP/NDDF) approach, combining the benefits of the two techniques. Similarly to the standard NDDF approach, the suggested model allows to include simultaneously inputs, desirable and undesirable outputs and not to overestimate the efficiency scores. At the same time, the AHP inclusion gives the possibility to directly take into account the decision maker preferences in the weighting system and to encompass some existing directional distance function models as special cases.The obtained results are then used to identify the efficiency explanatory variables: among them, the facilities' capacity, the percentage of wastewater discharged by the industrial and agricultural activities and the level of compliance with the pollutant concentration threshold set by the legislator have a significant impact on the WWTP performance. The integrated performance assessment allows the water authorities to combine the WWTP efficiency together with the environmental sustainability issue and it has the potential for further promising environmental inspections

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Section: Related Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Water pollution in wastewater treatment plants: An efficiency analysis with undesirable output

D’Inverno

Carosi

Romano

et al. 2018

European Journal of Operational Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The above analysis shows the spatial distribution and evolution pattern of urban wastewater discharge, but whether the current urban wastewater treatment plants are enough to control the pollution, needs further study. Even though the WWTP efficiencies were assessed by previous studies [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ], these studies are about specific aspects of WWTPs. Hence, it is not possible to use them as a base for countrywide policy formulation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Patterns of Urban Wastewater Discharge and Treatment Plants Efficiency in China

Degefu

et al. 2018

IJERPH

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With the rapid economic development, water pollution has become a major concern in China. Understanding the spatial variation of urban wastewater discharge and measuring the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants are prerequisites for rationally designing schemes and infrastructures to control water pollution. Based on the input and output urban wastewater treatment data of the 31 provinces of mainland China for the period 2011–2015, the spatial variation of urban water pollution and the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants were measured and mapped. The exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA) model and super-efficiency data envelopment analysis (DEA) combined Malmquist index were used to achieve this goal. The following insight was obtained from the results. (1) The intensity of urban wastewater discharge increased, and the urban wastewater discharge showed a spatial agglomeration trend for the period 2011 to 2015. (2) The average inefficiency of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) for the study period was 39.2%. The plants’ efficiencies worsened from the eastern to western parts of the country. (3) The main reasons for the low efficiency were the lack of technological upgrade and scale-up. The technological upgrade rate was −4.8%, while the scale efficiency increases as a result of scaling up was −0.2%. Therefore, to improve the wastewater treatment efficiency of the country, the provinces should work together to increase capital investment and technological advancement.

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“…While it has been argued that accounting for the differences between treatment technologies in the estimation of cost functions is important [47], studies that evaluated performance among WWTPs in different settings did not reach a consensus regarding the preferred technology in terms of cost efficiency [48][49][50].…”

Section: Empirical Specificationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impacts of Climate Change on Wastewater Treatment Costs: Evidence from the Wastewater Sector in China

Reznik

Dinar

2020

Water

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Treatment of wastewater is expected to become a major development issue in the years to come. We investigate the relationship between climate and costs of wastewater treatment with the objective of examining if changes in climate might have an impact on the costs of wastewater treatment. For that purpose, we use a cross-section sample of 163 treatment plants from China to estimate the industry’s cost function. The methodology used comprises an econometric estimation procedure of treatment costs of the wastewater sector, and a simulation of changes in these costs predicted with future climate conditions, policy implementation scenarios, population growth and development trends. Our results find evidence of climate change impact on treatment costs. We also simulate potential impact of future policy and climate scenarios on costs of treatment, and we measure the cost impact of all other cost determinants but climate—as these are indirectly affected by accounting for climate in the estimation procedure. This indirect impact predicts total cost changes of different magnitudes across the range of future scenarios investigated.

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Comparing the dynamic performance of wastewater treatment systems: A metafrontier Malmquist productivity index approach

Cited by 31 publications

References 28 publications

Water pollution in wastewater treatment plants: An efficiency analysis with undesirable output

Water pollution in wastewater treatment plants: An efficiency analysis with undesirable output

Spatial Patterns of Urban Wastewater Discharge and Treatment Plants Efficiency in China

The Impacts of Climate Change on Wastewater Treatment Costs: Evidence from the Wastewater Sector in China

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