Estimating performance and savings of water leakages and unplanned water supply interruptions in drinking water providers

Abstract

Water leakages and unplanned water supply interruptions are relevant variables in the provision of drinking water since they directly impact customers and the economic and environmental performance of water companies. For the first time, in this study, we estimated specific efficiency scores for these two quality-of-service variables using the multi-directional data envelopment analysis technique for a sample of 21 Chilean water companies over the 2007–2018 period. Unlike previous studies, this methodological approach allowed us to estimate potential savings for both quality-of-service variables. The results indicate that the Chilean water industry could improve its efficiency over water leakage and unplanned water supply interruption by 28.6% and 52.5%, respectively, while supplying the same volume of drinking water. It is estimated that water companies could save around 48 million cubic metres of drinking water per year. Savings on unplanned water supply interruptions for the Chilean water industry are estimated to be at the level of 62,419 h per year.