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The Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) has produced continent-wide analysis of many aspects of Africa's infrastructure challenge. The main findings were synthesized in a flagship report titled Africa's Infrastructure: a time for transformation, published in November 2009. Meant for policy makers, that report necessarily focused on the high-level conclusions. It attracted widespread media coverage feeding directly into discussions at the 2009 African Union Commission Heads of State Summit on Infrastructure. Although the flagship report served a valuable role in highlighting the main findings of the project, it could not do full justice to the richness of the data collected and technical analysis undertaken. There was clearly a need to make this more detailed material available to a wider audience of infrastructure practitioners. Hence the idea of producing four technical monographs, such as this one, to provide detailed results on each of the major infrastructure sectors, information and communication technologies (ICT), power, transport, and water, as companions to the flagship report. These technical volumes are intended as reference books on each of the infrastructure sectors. They cover all aspects of the AICD project relevant to each sector, including sector performance, gaps in financing and efficiency, and estimates of the need for additional spending on investment, operations, and maintenance. Each volume also comes with a detailed data appendix, providing easy access to all the relevant infrastructure indicators at the country level, which is a resource in and of itself.

Purpose This paper aims to study the critical success factors (CSF) of knowledge management (KM) in Iranian urban water and sewage companies (IUWSC) using interpretive structural modeling (ISM)-decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. Design/methodology/approach Through the literature review among many key factors of KM success, nine factors were selected as the main factors. After confirming the related indices by industry experts, a questionnaire was distributed among them for determining the relationship between the relevant components. Using ISM-DEMATEL approach, a structural model was formed and then the causal relationship among factors was visualized through a cause-effect relationship diagram. Findings The analysis of the results showed that among the studied factors, strategies and goals would have the greatest impact on success of KM implementation and senior management support, and teamwork and organizational culture are other CSFs of KM in IUWSC. In the end, the author’s proposed model for implementation of KM was presented based on the results for the status quo of the studied community. Practical implications The set of CSFs can act as a guideline for organizations to ensure that basic factors and issues are covered during implementation KM. Moreover, it provides a clue for effective development of KM in a stepwise approach. Originality/value This survey is probably the first to provide an integrated view of CSFs for implementation KM in IUWSC. It is hoped to give valuable information to help this business sector to accomplish KM effectively.

This study addresses the issues of water management safety management in the context of shaping the appropriate level of municipal services in Poland, related to quality standards and the availability of water resources for enterprises and the local community. The literature review presents examples of activities concerning the evaluation of the quality and availability of groundwater and their suitability for domestic and commercial use in the world. The key parameters of water intended for human consumption, which affect its quality, have been selected based on the literature and the Polish standards set out in the regulation. On this basis, appropriate parameters for case-study research were selected. In the following, the analytical methods and tools used to assess water quality were characterized. In the case study example, the analysis of water parameters from selected three different intakes in 2015-2017 (Tęczowa, Stodoły and GPW Rybnik-Północ) was performed and the functioning and role of the internal Water and Sewage Laboratory in the safety management of water economy in the water and sewerage company has been presented.

Storm overflow (SO) discharges to shellfish growing waters are a concern for shellfish growers and may pose a health risk to consumers. We investigated the performance of permitted SOs with a shellfish water spill monitoring requirement against the design criterion of 10 spills per year (averaged over 10 years) used in England. Performance against this criterion over the period 2019–2021 differed between the five water companies whose data was analysed. Across all companies, over half of SOs spilled more frequently than this criterion (percentage greater than 10 spills: 52%, 55% and 57% for 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively). The number of SOs with the monitoring requirement also differed considerably between the water companies and consequently some companies deal with a significantly higher ‘burden’ than others. The number of SOs spilling more than 100 times in a year also differed between water companies, from 0% (Wessex Water) to 16% (United Utilities). Discharges from SOs can lead to short-term reductions in water quality that may be missed by routine monitoring programmes using faecal indicator bacteria such as E. coli. Such discharges can lead to a higher incidence of norovirus in shellfish and thus potential illness in consumers. We conclude that site-specific impact assessments, supported by spill event-based monitoring, are required given the increased demands on sewerage networks from urban growth and climate change and the need to improve shellfish production area classifications.

More than 1 billion people around the world live without access to safe, potable water, in part because of poor governance and corruption. Illegal connections and substantial losses caused by deferred maintenance have eroded the revenues of water utilities, leading to a downward spiral in performance. Embezzlement of funds, bribes for access to illegal water connections, manipulation of meter counters, and collusion in public contracts add to the litany of corrupt practices. 'Improving Transparency, Integrity, and Accountability in Water Supply and Sanitation' is a useful tool for diagnosing, analyzing, and remedying systemic corruption in the water supply and sanitation sectors. It will serve as a practical guide for governments; utility regulators, managers, and staff; civil society organizations; contractors; and citizens in their quest for a model of service provision that responds to the pressing needs of people in the developing world. The book aims to increase the involvement of civil society by engaging all stakeholders in setting priorities and monitoring performance; help water and sanitation delivery contribute to poverty reduction by increasing the service quality and coverage provided by service delivery organizations to poorer communities on an equitable basis; provide a tool that promotes the financial sustainability of service delivery organizations, thus building stakeholders' confidence in those institutions' ability to expand and improve service; and raise ethical standards among all stakeholders, especially service delivery organizations, thereby instilling a sense of public service in these organizations.

Tehran, the capital city of Iran, has had many problems in the environmental field. Wastewater collection and treatment is one of most important of those. Tehran Sewerage Company has worked on the integrated wastewater management of Tehran by considering rapid population growth which results in increased water consumption and consequently more wastewater production. The wastewater project of Tehran began in 1959, but was stopped by the revolution in 1979. It was started again with financial support from the World Bank in 1990. This study conducted an environmental, social and financial assessment (short, medium and long term) of the Tehran Sewerage Project. Results showed that this project has moderate and temporary effects on environment and social communities. Furthermore, this paper proposes a management plan for mitigation measures (environmental monitoring and auditing). The combination of three solutions – governmental financial resources, public–private participation and the World Bank loan – as a function of three main factors – time, resources and quality – is discussed and investigated from an economic point of view. In this respect, supporting the private sector participation is considered as one of the critical factors for the success of the project.

The proper management of water resources plays a key role in the socioeconomic development of Armenia. On average, Armenia has sufficient water resources. Taking into account all available water resources in the country, Armenia has sufficient resources to supply approximately 3,100 cubic meters per capita per year well above the typically cited Falkenmark water stress indicator of 1,700 cubic meters per capita per year. These water resources are not evenly divided in space and time with significant seasonal and annual variability in river runoff. In order to address temporal variations in river runoff, the country has built 87 dams with a total capacity of 1.4 billion cubic meters. Most of these dams are single purpose, mainly for irrigation. Armenia also has considerable groundwater resources, which play an important role in the overall water balance. About 96 percent of the water used for drinking purposes and about 40 percent of water abstracted in the country comes from groundwater. Irrigation remains the largest consumptive user.

Hamburg's transition towards urban water security focuses on improving the sustainable management of water by reducing water consumption and treatment costs of wastewater as well as improving the utilisation of nutrients from waste for energy production. This chapter presents an overview of a case study that analyses how Hamburg's water utility uses a portfolio of demand management tools to modify the attitudes and behaviour of water users to achieve urban water security. Hamburg Wasser comprises the Hamburg Waterworks Limited (HWW) and Hamburg Public Sewage Company (HSE). Hamburg Wasser has developed the Hamburg Water Cycle (HWC) concept with the objective of improving the sustainability of water management in the future. The drivers of Hamburg Wasser's strategic vision for achieving urban water security include reducing the volume of imported water, climate change, population growth and rising energy costs. Hamburg Wasser has universal metering; every private home and apartment building has a water meter.

The assessment of productivity change across companies and over time is of great importance for water utilities managers and regulators. In this paper, for the first time, we apply the Färe-Primont productivity index (FPI) to evaluate the productivity change for the 10 water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) and 12 water only companies (WoCs) in England and Wales during the years 2001–2008. The FPI is the only index that without price data allows making comparisons involving many firms and many periods. The results indicate that during the years 2001–2004 productivity improved which was mainly attributed to gains in efficiency whereas technical change remained constant, the exception being the year 2004. During the years 2005–2008 productivity showed a declining trend and any gains in efficiency were lost to the highly negative technical change on productivity growth. From a policy perspective, it has been illustrated the importance of using a reliable index to compute the productivity change of water companies when the performance of companies is used to set water tariffs. Finally, the decomposition of productivity change into several drivers allows water utilities and managers to identify the main factors on which they should act to improve productivity of the company.

Evaluating the quality of service (QS) provided by water companies is essential to benchmark and regulate them. Composite indicators (CIs) are a useful tool for this as they consist of aggregated multiple performance indicators in a single index, providing a holistic assessment of the QS of water companies. In this study, the novel ‘benefit of doubt’ methodology was used in order to evaluate the QS of a sample of Chilean water companies, by computing CIs that integrate both direct and reverse indicators. Moreover, the estimation of the Nerlove–Luenberger super-efficiency CI allowed for the ranking of water companies based on their QS. Results showed that, on average, Chilean water companies provide water and sewerage services with high quality, as the mean CI of the QS estimated was 0.93. Nevertheless, the QS of 2 of the 24 water companies evaluated stood out remarkably. The second-stage analysis conducted revealed that the ownership and peak factor of water companies and water consumed by customers affects the QS of water companies. The methodological approach followed in this study to evaluate the QS of water companies would be very useful for water regulators, as the CI computed integrates both desirable and undesirable outputs.