Name: SAULO BIASUTTI
Publication date: 19/08/2016
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| EDUMAR RAMOS CABRAL COELHO | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| EDUMAR RAMOS CABRAL COELHO | Advisor * |
Summary: The amount of water loss, expressed through indicators, is an important element in assessing the efficiency of water supply services. However, when there is no uniformity in the language used for indicators, this important tool loses its credibility. The International Water Association (IWA) at the end of the 90s laid the foundation for the standardization of performance indicators for water supply services. Their standard was successful, being adopted by many countries. In Brazil there is still no consolidated national standard of loss indicators and therefore a wide range of indicators is used by managers of water supply sectors. In this context, this project aims to review, record and comparatively evaluate the types of loss indicators currently used in Brazil, identifying variations in terminology, units and formulas. To achieve the research it was resorted to a systematic review of scientific literature, together with the analysis of legal and technical documents that regulate water loss indicators in Brazil. Altogether in the literature 164 case studies were evaluated and in the documentary research 124 Municipal Sanitation Plans (PMSB). The results show the lack of uniformity of loss indicators, as different nomenclatures and formulas are used to express the same indicator in different documents. The lack of standardization of indicators makes the comparison of performance between different providers of water services difficult. Moreover, the results show that indicators expressed as a percentage, although not recommended by IWA, are still widely used, including setting targets in PMSB. At the same time, a survey was developed with the providers of water services, in order to investigate the most common limitations on
the application of the loss indicators. Based on responses from 65 providers to the questionnaire survey, it was observed that the most frequent difficulties are lack of measuring equipment (macro and micro), lack of reliability of operational data and lack of financial resources for investments. As a result, the audit of losses in water supply systems is generally poor, making it difficult to set targets and monitor progress in loss management through indicators, especially in regards to more specific indicators of reais loss and apparent loss.
