Performance indicators for urban storm water systems: a review

Abstract

Over the past two decades, performance assessment based on performance indicators (PI) has been one of the areas showing the greatest advancement in the water sector. This practice may be defined as any approach that aims to measure effectiveness and/or efficiency of an activity or process using PI, supporting the decision-making process and encouraging the continuous improvement of a water utility. Despite the potential benefits, few projects and initiatives of performance assessment based on PI have been undertaken regarding storm water systems. The present article aims to review studies that have been carried out in the area to provide a state of the art on the subject, understand the applicability of the existing methodologies and their limitations, and to point out future directions. The review revealed that most of the research works were of limited scope, focusing on single storm water systems or some specific aspects of their performance, and also gave an inappropriate definition and selection of PI, compromising their further application. The identified gaps emphasise the need for a new methodology to provide a reference framework in the field. Such methodology should be objective, standardised and well-adapted to different contexts, driven by objectives and criteria and based on PI and targets.

Performance Assessment System to Wastewater Utilities Strategic Planning

“…In Portugal, the variables included in the regulators' system are a good starting point for metrics selection. Systems available in the literature were analyzed, together with PAS defined in previous research, legislation and regulation requirements, and strategic national and European development guidance [5,6,8,10,25,30,[34][35][36][37][38][39].…”

“…Within this context, tracking performance aligned with the mission and strategic objectives of the utility, based on reliable and up-to-date data, is of utmost importance to enable effective and continual improvement management. Organizational performance assessment in the water sector has been a topic of growing attention since the 1990s, due to the increase in the role of regulators (economic, environmental, health, and quality of service) [3][4][5][6] and tighter legislation. Proactive utilities are incorporating sustainability, resource efficiency, resilience, and continual improvement principles into their practices [7][8][9].…”

“…Developments reported in the literature predominantly relate to water supply, with fewer studies on wastewater and stormwater systems, and even fewer for natural or naturebased water systems. Several publications by [6,[10][11][12][24][25][26][27][28] present a structured PAS to support effective and robust management of urban water systems but are mostly directed to infrastructure asset management (IAM). Many adopt a wide-ranging structure aiming to respond to regulatory or legal requirements [29,30], therefore without fully exploring important technical aspects for the strategic management of the services provided in all dimensions.…”

Comprehensive Assessment of Water Sensitive Urban Design Practices based on Multi-criteria Decision Analysis via a Case Study of the University of Melbourne, Australia

“…According to general stormwater goals (See Table 2), GSI cases [68][69][70][71], and functional specifications of selected WSUD (See Appendix A), 10 sub-criteria and several indicators from functional, economic, social, and environmental variables were determined and shown in Figure 5. The rationale for each sub-criterion and indicator is as follows.…”

Performance assessment of the operational management of urban drainage systems: a case study of Bejaia City, Algeria

“…Performance Indicators (PI) constitute one of the most useful tools for quantifying the efficiency and the effectiveness of actions, and for supporting the monitoring of services over time (Santos et al 2019). This tool has been successfully applied in the water field, mainly for water supply and wastewater services.…”