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Procedia Engineering 70 (2014) 458 – 466

12th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water Industry, CCWI2013

Management system for improving the efficiency of use water

systems water supply
E.V. de Souzaa, M.A. Costa da Silvaa*
a
HAGAPLAN, São Paulo – SP, Brazil

Abstract

This paper presents a management proposal to improve the efficient use of water resources in water supply
systems. This is based on management tools, project management and is organized into three levels of planning
(strategic, tactical and operational), following definitions of theories of strategic planning. This paper details these
levels of planning, with a focus on strategic management, i.e., action plans at the strategic level, describing a
methodology and detailing the main tasks that should be executed, as well as the main tools that can be used in
each task, such as SWOT analysis and Balanced Scorecard.

© 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Committee
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the CCWI2013 Committee.

Keywords: Management system, reducing losses, improving efficiency, water resources, water supply

1. Introduction

Nowadays, water utilities of water supply systems in Brazil are facing a great challenge to save water, not only
due to technical and economic reasons, i.e. to improve the performance of the whole system, but also because of
the scarcity of water resources in many regions Brazil and the growing need for sustainable management systems.
The water supply system in most Brazilian fund managers have water losses due to leaks and ruptures that result
from the inevitable advanced age infrastructure, concepts and constructs deficient or inadequate operation and
maintenance.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +55-11-33340355; fax: +55-11-33340355.

E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-7058 © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the CCWI2013 Committee
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2014.02.051
 E.V. de Souza and M.A. Costa da Silva / Procedia Engineering 70 (2014) 458 – 466 459

The development and implementation of effective water losses strategies and procedures is of the utmost
importance for water utilities. The current paper aims at the presentation of a methodology for the improvement of
the water resources use efficiency in water supply systems. This methodology is based on tools of strategic
management, project management and is organized into three levels of planning (strategic, tactical and
operational), following definitions of theories of strategic planning, associated with actions short, medium and long
term. The paper details these levels of planning, with a focus on management, describing a methodology and
detailing the main tasks that must be performed, as well as the key tools and technologies that can be used in each
task to aid decision making, such as indicators performance, hydraulic simulators and optimization procedures.

2. Water Losses Control

Programs to reduce and to control water losses as well as to rationalize the consumption of water and energy
should be applied to the various stages of the supply, since the water intake, including the treatment, transport and
storage, distribution and the final delivery to the consumer. Water input into the system has two main components
– authorized consumption and water losses (Fig. 1). Water losses are the difference between the system input
volume and authorized consumption (measured or estimated). Losses have two components: real or physical losses
that correspond to leaks and ruptures in transmission or distribution mains, in storage tanks and in service
connections until the consumer meter (i.e., water that inadvertently leaves the system), and apparent losses include
measurement errors (flow-meters), illegal connections and uncounted for uses (e.g., irrigation, street washing, fire
fighting) (Alegre et al., 2005).
While apparent losses can be minimized by using more accurate measurement equipment, installing meters at
uncounted for consumption sites and regularly surveying the system looking for illegal connections, real losses
depend greatly on normal operating pressures, burst frequencies, infrastructure age, construction processes, and
rehabilitation strategies and leakage reduction. Leakage control can be carried out by different types of actions
(Covas et al., 2008):

• passive control that consists of the repair of leaks and ruptures only when they become visible;
• active leakage control that consists of the establishment and monitoring of district metering areas and the
implementation leak detection surveys;
• pressure management that presupposes the establishment of pressure zones by the redefinition of the network
layout or the installation of PRV;
• Implementation of short-term and long-term rehabilitation programs.
460 E.V. de Souza and M.A. Costa da Silva / Procedia Engineering 70 (2014) 458 – 466

Billed Billed Metered Consumption (including

Input Volume (corrected for known errors) [m³/year]
Revenue
Authorized water exported) [m³/year]
Water
Consumption Billed Unmetered Consumption
Authorized [m³/year]
[m³/year] [m³/year]
consumption
Unbilled Unbilled Metered Consumption
[m³/year] [m³/year]
Authorized
Consumption Unbilled Unmetered Consumption
[m³/year] [m³/year]
Non-
Apparent Unauthorized Consumption [m³/year] Revenue
Losses Customer Metering Inaccuracies Water
[m³/year] [m³/year] (NRW)
Water losses Leakage on Transmission and/or
Distribution Mains [m³/year] [m³/year]
Real Losses
[m³/year] Leakage and Overflows at Utility’s
Storage Tanks [m³/year]
[m³/year]
Leakage on Service Connections up to
point of Customer metering [m³/year]

Fig. 1. The IWA ‘best practice’ standard water balance

3. Strategic Management and Project Management

The water supply system of a city is in fact a major industry which produces, stores, and distributes the most
vital food for humans. As such, the services provided by a managing entity to a community have fundamentally
two objectives which are: Preservation of public health and social Purpose.
With this approach, you can not admit that the company pays additional costs arising from potential
inefficiencies, whether source technical, commercial or managerial.
Therefore, any company providing services to the public - and in the case of this article, the managing bodies of
water - must meet some basic requirements, namely:

• Quality - the product supplied to users as well as after its consumption to disposal in the environment, should
have the minimum quality required by the Standards for drinking water and effluent discharge;
• Amount - the company must provide a sufficient quantity of water to meet the demand of its users rational;
• Regularity - regular services should be both in quantity and in quality, I mean, should maintain the same
quality standards at all times;
• Reliability - meeting the requirements above, will make sure that the user acquire public confidence in the
company;
• Cost - the company should adopt an organizational structure, employing methods and work procedures - both
source technical and operational, commercial, and managerial - meet the above requirements and, at the same
time, resulting in the lowest possible cost. The company must be, in other words, efficient and effective.

In this context, the role of a managing body of water comes amid several processes and a project is important to
understand the differences and similarities between these two types of work for their proper management.
According to the definition of the Project Management Body of Knowledge - PMBOK (2013) a Project is a
temporary endeavor undertaken to create a product, service or result only, and managing a project is represented
succinctly in Fig. 2. Furthermore, it has to be a Project is a unique process, consisting of a group of coordinated and
controlled activities with start and end dates for, undertaken to reach a goal as specific requirements, including
limitations of time, cost and resources.
 E.V. de Souza and M.A. Costa da Silva / Procedia Engineering 70 (2014) 458 – 466 461

PROJECT
MANAGEMENT

PROJECT PROJECT TIME

MANAGEMENT OF
INTEGRATION MANAGEMENT
PROJECT SCOPE
MANAGEMENT

HUMAN RESOURCE
PROJECT COST PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT
MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT PROJECT

MANAGEMENT PROJECT
MANAGEMENT PROCUREMENT
PROJECT
PROJECT RISK MANAGEMENT
COMMUNICATIONS

Fig. 2. Overview of knowledge areas of project management processes and project management. Source: PMBOK (2013)

Thus, it can be said that the work processes are repeated systematically, while projects occur in a unique way.
Examples of processes within company sanitation routines are the billing, collection, customer service, operation of
treatment plants, supervision and operational control, etc. How designs can be mentioned the conception, design,
construction, delivery and startup of a treatment plant, or the development and implementation of a new business
management system, among others. At the end of their life cycle these projects result in many processes for its
operation.
A management company water supply must have control methodologies based on project management,
advocated by PMI, as well as process management in a strategic way.
Strategic management encompasses the definition of strategic benchmarks, which communicate the guidelines
of the management entity for its strategic business units and various functional levels, in order that their actions are
consistent and aligned with general guidance. To illustrate this concept Rumelt (1984) discusses a methodology
base strategic management, as shown in Fig. 3

1. Definition of business

2. Statement of vision, mission and values

3. Analysis of the external environment:

trends, scenarios, opportunities and threats.
Analysis of the five competitive forces

4. Analysis of the internal environment.

Preparation SWOT matrix (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats)

5. Competitive strategy formulation and

definition of the value chain

6. Implementation and control: balanced

scorecard and action plans

Fig. 3. Methodology-based strategic management, according to Rumelt (1984)

462 E.V. de Souza and M.A. Costa da Silva / Procedia Engineering 70 (2014) 458 – 466

An important tool in strategic management, in order to align and control strategic, is the Balanced Scorecard
(BSC), which enables the development of measures that enable the deployment of strategies to be implemented.
Strategists can better evaluate corporate performance and the strategic business units, developing the constant
process of learning the whole value chain of the organization. The BSC allows managers to view and deploy
strategies in four perspectives: financial, customers, internal processes, and learning and growth. The BSC
complements financial measures with non-financial indicators, making the future performance at all levels of the
servicer. (Kaplan and Norton, 1996)

4. Integrated Methodology

4.1. Levels of planning

The activity of water utilities should be planned in three levels (Murphy, 2003):

• strategic level, at long term (more than 5 years) establishing the strategic objectives and its goals, but not
specifying the means to achieve the desired results;
• tactical level, at medium term (1 to 3 years) establishing the ways to achieve the desired results (i.e., the
tactics);
• operational level, at short time (e.g., 1 year,) establishing the short term program and actions.

Strategic plans are usually established by the head of the organization, tactical plans by the responsible for each
division and operational plans by those responsible for the operational teams. The methodology presented here is
developed in the strategic planning.

4.2. The methodology

Associating a strategic management methodology proposed by Rumelt (1984), shown in Fig. 3, with the
concepts of the Balanced Scorecard and the methodology proposed by Souza et al (2009), shown in Fig. 4, results
in a methodology for a system management to improve the efficiency of water use for water supply systems shown
in Fig. 5 which will be used in this article.
Establishment of objectives, assessment criteria and
performance measures (Step 1)

Characterization and diagnostics

Data collection and system characterization (Step 2)

Performance assessment (Step 3)

Identification of critical systems & components (Step 4)

Plan revsion

Plan development
Establishment of Establishment of
global actions (Step 5) specific actions (Step 6)

Plan production (Summary of Steps 5+6)

Plan implementation (Step 7)

Plan monitoring, control and revision (Step 8)

Fig. 4. Methodology for the improvement the efficiency in water resources uses (Souza et al, 2009).
 E.V. de Souza and M.A. Costa da Silva / Procedia Engineering 70 (2014) 458 – 466 463

Fig. 5. Modified methodology applied in this article

Unlike the method proposed by Souza et al (2009), this paper seeks to establish guidelines for strategic
management, from which data can take operational and tactical decisions and propose guidelines for the direction
of the managing body of water to maximize the results and minimize disabilities using principles of efficiency,
efficacy and effectiveness.

4.3. Establishment of objectives, vision, mission and values (Step 1)

The first step in the methodology is the definition of the objectives, vision, mission and values of the water
utilities. The strategic objectives for water utilities are the following (ISO 24512: 2007): (i) protection of public
health; (ii) satisfaction of the needs and expectations of the users of the service; (iii) provision of service in normal
and emergency conditions; (iv) sustainability of the water utilities; (v) promote the sustainable development of the
community; and (vi) environmental protection.
In addition to the strategic objectives will be defined vision, which is what is idealized to the management
company, the mission, which is your purpose of existence, and values, which are the basic beliefs for decision
making of the fund manager.
464 E.V. de Souza and M.A. Costa da Silva / Procedia Engineering 70 (2014) 458 – 466

4.4. SWOT Analysis (Step 2)

In the SWOT analysis will be evaluated the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of the water
utilities.

Fig. 6. SWOT Analysis

4.5. Data collection & system characterization (Step 3)

The first step towards the diagnostic of the system is the collection and systematization of existing information
and the characterization of different systems. These systems can be defined based on the water sources, tanks,
existing levels of pressure, the network topology and the number of consumers. It is essential to characterize the
current situation in terms of physical characteristics of the systems, billed consumption, failure records and cost
data. The comparison between different systems allows to obtain an overall picture of the water supply system as
well as to identify the main gaps and needs in terms of the management of the information system.

4.6. Performance assessment – Analysis of Tactical Plans (Step 4)

Based on the set of performance measures established in tactical plans considered the most relevant in the
context of water losses control use, the performance of the different sectors of the system is assessed. For each
performance measure, reference intervals should be defined in order to allow the evaluation in "good",
"satisfactory" or "bad" performance.

4.7. Identification of critical systems & components (Step 5)

Step 5 consists of the identification of the most critical sectors and components of the system, which are the
ones with lower values of performance indicators for different tactical objectives. This allows the definition of
priorities.

4.8. Establishment of action plans (Step 6)

Action plans should be defined with the previous analyzes, consolidated and summarized in Fig. 7.
 E.V. de Souza and M.A. Costa da Silva / Procedia Engineering 70 (2014) 458 – 466 465

Perspectives Strategic Critical Action Measurement Responsibility Implementatio Resourse

Objectives Factors n date

TEMPLATE

Fig. 7. . Strategic Action Plan (Template)

4.9. Implementation and control: Balanced Scorecard (BSC) (Step 8)

The management control should be done through a Strategic Committee which will monitor all the actions
defined, as well as through the BSC that allows managers to view and deploy strategies in four perspectives:
financial, customers, internal processes, and learning and growth. The monitoring will be done through these four
perspectives, as presented in Fig. 8.

Strategy Financial External customers Internal processes Learning and

development

TEMPLATE

Fig. 8. Monitoring by Balanced Scorecard – BSC (Template)

4.10. Plan monitoring, control and revision (Step 9)

Due to the strategic objectives, SWOT analysis and definition of action plans, defines a monitoring plan with
goals for each objective, besides setting the charge and frequency of monitoring. The Strategic Committee plays a
key role in this process. From these results, one should undertake periodic review of action plans in relation to the
objectives, as well as SWOT analysis, because the internal and external conditions change, requiring a
reassessment of the action plans. This allows the evaluation of the efficiency of human resources, physical and
technological resources, as well as the effectiveness of actions, comparing the baseline configuration with the final
plan.

5. Case Study (in progress)

The HAGAPLAN is a Consultancy Company and it is in consortium with SANEAR, which is developing a
work to reduce losses in Guarulhos. So is underway to apply the methodology described above.
In the complex context of the water of the great metropolis that surrounds the city of São Paulo, Guarulhos is
one of six autonomous systems. However, although it has complete independence in relation to the distribution of
water, the city's main supplier Sabesp - Basic Sanitation Company of the State of São Paulo, which supplies the
region through the Metropolitan Aqueduct System.
Since the last two decades of the twentieth century the supply of drinking water produced by us for the MRSP
has been limited, and the prospect of population growth, mainly concentrated in layers of middle and low income
located in peripheral regions, the municipality is seeking to increase its autonomy in terms of water production,
mainly through the implementation of systems independent producers, rooted in the exploration of deep wells with
low flow and small watersheds in the region.
Despite significant investments that have been made since 2001, distributor system, even if no progress on
increasing efficiency, and to pursue the full implementation of the supply sectors designed in previous studies and
in other structures that may contribute to the effective control of drinking water distributed.
466 E.V. de Souza and M.A. Costa da Silva / Procedia Engineering 70 (2014) 458 – 466

An increase in efficiency translates into an obviously reducing the amount of water distributed and therefore a
greater protection of resources, without compromising the quality of services provided by SAAE its users.
Therefore, these situations can be not only a quantitative but also qualitative, reducing water availability in the
appropriate quality resulting in the provision of services.
It is therefore increasingly a concern to promote more efficient use of water, by optimizing the use of this
feature, without, of course, forget the intended goals - efficient use - the level of the vital needs of society, quality
of life and socio-economic development of the municipality. The goal is to use less water to achieve the same goal,
also allowing as indirect benefits, reduced pollution of water resources and the reduction of energy consumption,
highly dependent aspects of water consumption.
Therefore, the water utility hired of the Guarulhos Partnership HAGAPLAN-SANEAR to analyze the water
supply system and propose a plan to reduce water losses. Within this contract to provide services, from
HAGAPLAN we are starting to implement the method defined in this paper. The aim will be to implement all the
steps described above, i.e., focusing the strategic actions to reduce water losses and the organization of the water
utility in the customer requirements and goals (Partnership HAGAPLAN-SANEAR, 2012). However the success
of strategic actions defined in this methodology (Fig. 5) is related to actions at the tactical level defined in the
methodology proposed by Souza et al (2009), which was summarized in Fig. 4.

Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge HAGAPLAN Consultancy Company where we currently work as engineers for
allowing the development of this research and supporting the attendance to CCWI conference.

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