Product Detail

The Qualserve Benchmarking Program provides benchmarking data and analyses in key areas of water and wastewater utilities operations and management. Using this information, utility managers can determine how their utility's performance compares to almost 350 other water and wastewater utilities.

The primary objective of the benchmarking program is to build a performance measurement system specific for water and wastewater utilities. These measures are designed to help participating organizations improve their operational efficiency and effectiveness.The Qualserve Benchmarking Program is a joint program of the American Water Works Association and the Water Environment Federation.

The survey provides benchmarking data and analyses in the following key areas of water and wastewater utility operations and management.

1. Organizational Best Practice Index is a self-assessment of the degree to which seven management practices are implemented by a utility: strategic planning, long-term financial planning, risk management planning, optimized asset management, performance measurement, customer involvement, continuous improvement.

2. Employee Health and Safety Severity Rate quantifies the rate of employee days lost from work due to illness or injury.

3. Training Hours Per Employee measures the quantity of formal training employees are completing.

4. Customer Accounts Per Employee/MGD Water Delivered Per Employee/MGD Wastewater Processed Per Employee are measures of employee efficiency. 

5. Customer Service Complaints/Technical Quality Complaints Per 1,000 Customers allow utilities to compare customer complaint rates.

6. Disruption of Water ServiceRatePer 1,000 Customers Planned/Unplanned quantify the number of customers experiencing service disruptions.

7. Residential Cost of Water/Sewer Service (Monthly) allows utilities to compare the residential cost of water and sewer service based upon both a defined quantity of water use and the average bill amounts for those services.  

8. Customer Service Cost Per Account measures the amount of resources a utility applies to its customers service program.

9. Billing AccuracyRate Per 10,000 Bills measures the number of error-driven billing adjustments per 10,000 bills generated during the year.

10. Debt Ratio is a measure of utility indebtedness.

11. System Renewal/Replacement Rate(%) measures the degree to which a utility is renewing or replacing its infrastructure. Separate rates are provides for water and wastewater.

12. Return on Assets indicates the financial effectiveness of the utility. 

13. Drinking Water Compliance Rate (% Days) reports the percentage of time each year that a water utility meets all of the health-related drinking water standards in the U.S. National Primary Drinking Water Regulations.

14. Distribution System Water Loss (%) measures the percentage of drinking water placed into distribution that does not find its way to customers or other authorized users.

15. Water Distribution System Integrity quantifies the condition of the water distribution system, expressed by the total number of leaks and pipeline breaks per 100 miles of distribution piping.

16. Operations & Maintenance Cost Ratios (Water) tally the cost of operations and maintenance and relate them by cost per account, cost per MG processed, and cost of treatment per MG.

17. Planned Maintenance Ratio (Water) measures how effectively utilities are investing in planned maintenance. Two ratios make comparisons to cost and to hours invested in maintenance activities.

18. Sewer Overflow Rate measures the condition of the sewerage collection system and the effectiveness of maintenance activities. It is expressed as the ratio of the number of overflows per 100 miles of collection piping.

19. Collection System Integrity measures the frequency of collection system failures per 100 miles of piping per year.

20. Wastewater Treatment Effectiveness Rate quantifies the percent of time each year that a utility in in compliance with the effluent quality standards.

21. Operations & Maintenance Cost Ratios (Wastewater) tally the cost of operations and maintenance and relate them by cost per account, cost per MG processed, and cost of treatment per MG.

22. Planned Maintenance Ratio (Wastewater) measures how effectively utilities are investing in planned maintenance. Two ratios make comparisons to cost and to hours invested in maintenance activities.