Water Utility Management
Effective Water Utility Management is critical to helping water and wastewater utilities address challenges, improve performance, and deliver on key business objectives and accountabilities.
The capability and effectiveness of an organisation not only encompasses the financial health of the organisation but also its culture, its alignment and focus upon strategic objectives, and the depth and breadth of skills in the organisation to drive innovation and respond to changing circumstances.[1]
Broadly, Water Utility Management refers to the various approaches used in the running and future planning of an organisation, and can be broken down into a basic framework:
- Financial Management
- Strategy/Planning
- Operations
- People Management
- Risk Management
Table of Contents
Framework
Broadly, Water Utility Management refers to the various approaches used in the running and future planning of an organisation, and can be broken down into a basic framework:
Financial Management
Financial Management relates to ensuring there is sufficient funding to fulfil an organisation’s obligations. A component of this is understanding the full life-cycle cost of the utility and establishing and maintaining an effective balance between long-term debt, asset values, operations and maintenance expenditures, and operating revenues.[2] Users of the services water systems provide should, wherever practical, pay the full cost, including infrastructure, delivery and environmental costs associated with that service.[3]
Strategy and Planning
Planning for the long term is essential in ensuring a strong and viable utility long into the future. Key areas that need to be addressed include service delivery, asset management, and water security, however it is important to recognise that there will be competing objectives, particularly in relation to efficiency, service levels, environmental, and costs for consumers.
Operations
Optimising operational resources is critical to achieving exceptional outcomes for a utility. Operational optimisation ensures ongoing, timely, cost-effective, reliable, and sustainable performance improvements in all facets of the utility’s operations, while minimising resource use, loss, and impacts from day-to-day operations[4]. Performance indicators assist in the monitoring and evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of operational undertakings[5].
People Management
Effective people management helps to ensure the organisation has sufficient human resources to meet current and future demands. A critical component of this is ensuring employee institutional knowledge is retained and improved upon over time, through education and training. The key objective of people management is to obtain the highest possible productivity from human resources, and offer the best employment and career opportunities according to the individuals’ skills and aptitudes[6].
Risk Management
Proactively identifying, assessing, and effectively managing a full range of business risks (including legal, regulatory, financial, environmental, safety, security, and natural disaster-related), is essential for anticipating and avoiding potential issues.[7] Occupational health and safety also fits into this category.
References
[1] From ‘Victorian Government White Paper – Securing Our Water Future Together’, Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne, June 2004, Pg 12
[2] From ‘Effective Water Utility Management – A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities’ June 2008, Pg 4, www.watereum.org/pdf/2008-06EUMprimer.pdf
[3] From ‘Victorian Government White Paper – Securing Our Water Future Together’, Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne, June 2004, Pg 12
[4] From ‘Effective Water Utility Management – A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities’ June 2008, Pg 5, www.watereum.org/pdf/2008-06EUMprimer.pdf
[5] From ‘Performance Indicators for Water Supply Services’ IWA Publishing, London 2000, Pg 3
[6] From ‘Performance Indicators for Water Supply Services’ IWA Publishing, London 2000, Pg 3
[7] From ‘Effective Water Utility Management – A Primer for Water and Wastewater Utilities’ June 2008, Pg 5, www.watereum.org/pdf/2008-06EUMprimer.pdf
Resources
This article was written on behalf of Yarra Valley Water.
