Product Detail

Data in 22 key areas of water and wastewater utilities operations and management provide benchmarks to help improve efficiency and effectiveness. Using this information, utility managers can determine how their utility's performance in key areas compares to other utilities.  

The report benchmarks 22 key areas:

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

1. Organizational Best Practices 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 measures lost workdays per employee per year. It is identical to that contained in OSHA Form 300A and already recorded by utilities in the United States.

3. Training Hours Per Employee measures a utility’s investment in formal training for employees.

4. Customer Accounts Per Employee, MGD Water Delivered Per Employee, and MGD Wastewater Processed Per Employee are measures of employee efficiency. They account for contributions completed through contracts.

CUSTOMER RELATIONS

5. Customer Service Complaints and Technical Quality Complaints per 1,000 customer accounts.

6. Disruptions of Water Service quantify the number of customers experiencing service disruptions.

7. Residential Cost of Water and/or Sewer Service is a suite of six indicators, two of which apply at any water, wastewater or joint water/wastewater utility:
• Bill amount for monthly residential water service for a customer using 7500 gallons per month
• Average residential water bill amount for one month of service
• Bill amount for monthly residential sewer service for a customer using 7500 gallons of water per month
• Average residential sewer bill amount for one month of service
• For multiple service utilities that cannot provide individual costs, the total monthly bill amount for residential water and sewer service for a customer using 7500 gallons of water per month
• For multiple service utilities that cannot provide individual costs, the average residential combined water and sewer bill amount for one month of service

8. Customer Service Cost Per Account measures the cost to a utility of managing a single customer account for one year.

9. Billing Accuracy measures the number of error-driven bill adjustments per 10,000 bills issued during the reporting year.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS

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. Rates are provided for water treatment, water distribution, wastewater collection, and wastewater treatment.

12. Return on Assets indicates the financial effectiveness of the utility. Investor-owned and enterprise fund utilities may see the greatest value to this indicator.

WATER OPERATIONS

13. Drinking Water Compliance Rate tallies the percentage of days in the reporting year during which a utility was in full compliance with the maximum contaminant levels and treatment techniques mandated by 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 with the number of breaks and leaks requiring repair per 100 miles of distribution piping.

16. Operations & Maintenance Cost Ratios tally the cost of operations and maintenance and relate them on per account and per millions of gallons produced bases.

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

WASTEWATER OPERATIONS

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.

20. Wastewater Treatment Effectiveness Rate quantifies a utility’s compliance with the effluent quality standards in effect at each of its wastewater treatment facilities.

21. Operations & Maintenance Cost Ratios tally the cost of operations and maintenance and relate them on per account and per millions of gallons of wastewater processed bases.

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