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Identifying the performance drivers of wastewater treatment plants through conditional order-m efficiency analysis

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  • Guerrini, Andrea
  • Romano, Giulia
  • Mancuso, Fabrizio
  • Carosi, Laura

Abstract

In European countries, wastewater treatment service is often provided by utilities, which have to comply with environmental laws and, at the same time, should control costs in order to restrain tariff growth and earn profits. By applying a conditional order-m efficiency method, this study provides some insights to the operational variables affecting the efficiency of 137 plants owned by a water utility operating in Tuscany, Italy. These performance drivers are categorized as: 1) wastewater features, 2) plant technology, 3) other plant features, 4) output quality, and 5) sludge disposal method. Starting from some controversial results from prior literature, this paper provides some useful insights on the best policies that could be adopted by a utility to catch cost savings.

Suggested Citation

  • Guerrini, Andrea & Romano, Giulia & Mancuso, Fabrizio & Carosi, Laura, 2016. "Identifying the performance drivers of wastewater treatment plants through conditional order-m efficiency analysis," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 20-31.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juipol:v:42:y:2016:i:c:p:20-31
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jup.2016.08.001
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    1. Bădin, Luiza & Daraio, Cinzia & Simar, Léopold, 2019. "A bootstrap approach for bandwidth selection in estimating conditional efficiency measures," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 277(2), pages 784-797.
    2. D’Inverno, Giovanna & Carosi, Laura & Romano, Giulia & Guerrini, Andrea, 2018. "Water pollution in wastewater treatment plants: An efficiency analysis with undesirable output," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 269(1), pages 24-34.
    3. Guerrini, A. & Romano, G., 2017. "Contract renegotiation by an Italian wastewater utility: Action research to promote effective tariff revision," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 176-183.
    4. Andrea Guerrini & Giulia Romano & Alessandro Indipendenza, 2017. "Energy Efficiency Drivers in Wastewater Treatment Plants: A Double Bootstrap DEA Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-13, June.
    5. Andrea Guerrini & Giulia Romano & Simone Ferretti & Donatella Fibbi & Daniele Daddi, 2016. "A Performance Measurement Tool Leading Wastewater Treatment Plants toward Economic Efficiency and Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-14, November.
    6. Cinzia Daraio & Léopold Simar & Paul W. Wilson, 2020. "Fast and efficient computation of directional distance estimators," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 288(2), pages 805-835, May.
    7. Ruiz-Rosa, Inés & García-Rodríguez, Francisco J. & Antonova, Natalia, 2020. "Developing a methodology to recover the cost of wastewater reuse: A proposal based on the polluter pays principle," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Henriques, Alda A. & Camanho, Ana S. & Amorim, Pedro & Silva, Jaime G., 2020. "Performance benchmarking using composite indicators to support regulation of the Portuguese wastewater sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    9. Alda A. Henriques & Milton Fontes & Ana S. Camanho & Giovanna D’Inverno & Pedro Amorim & Jaime Gabriel Silva, 2022. "Performance evaluation of problematic samples: a robust nonparametric approach for wastewater treatment plants," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 315(1), pages 193-220, August.
    10. Mykolas Simas Poškus & Lina Jovarauskaitė & Audra Balundė, 2021. "A Systematic Review of Drivers of Sustainable Wastewater Treatment Technology Adoption," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-11, July.
    11. Urakami, Takuya & Saal, David S. & Nieswand, Maria, 2021. "Industry Fragmentation and Wastewater Efficiency: A Case Study of Hyogo Prefecture in Japan," ADBI Working Papers 1218, Asian Development Bank Institute.
    12. Longo, S. & Mauricio-Iglesias, M. & Soares, A. & Campo, P. & Fatone, F. & Eusebi, A.L. & Akkersdijk, E. & Stefani, L. & Hospido, A., 2019. "ENERWATER – A standard method for assessing and improving the energy efficiency of wastewater treatment plants," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 897-910.

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