Abstract
A sustainability index (SI) is a benchmark for guiding the activities of municipal water and wastewater (W and WS) utilities toward sustainability. The SI has been used in Sweden since 2014 as an internal benchmark management tool facilitating the strategic work of organizations. This study assesses how the SI was applied in practice by eight utilities (Orgs 1–8) from 2015 to 2019. The study was performed using in-depth semi-structured interviews with managers of the utilities and analyzing 32 SI reports and other documents. The utilities generally perform better in all parameters compared with the national average. Three utilities had improved results during the study period, while the other five had unchanged development. Five utilities use the SI index to improve their performance, and three use the SI results to grade the organization. All utilities are concerned with sustainability and wish to improve their performance. The study found that the parameter “Status of W and WS fixed facilities” was the furthest from sustainability. The study also clarifies that the technical committee has the primary responsibility to ensure that the technical office meets the sustainability objectives.
Highlights
In the pursuit of the creation of a sustainable society, public water and wastewater systems (W and WS) are essential parts of the concept
This is in line with [7], which noted that municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants had improved results, especially with a smaller proportion of red parameters than municipalities with fewer than 20,000
This study found that the results for the eight investigated municipalities in 2019 were better compared with the national result (Table 1)
Summary
In the pursuit of the creation of a sustainable society, public water and wastewater systems (W and WS) are essential parts of the concept. Sweden’s 290 municipalities should provide residents with a water supply and manage their wastewater in a long-term sustainable way, considering the environment and human health. These municipalities are responsible for the building, renewal, and expansion of general W and WS facilities, and they decide where such services need to be arranged. Datapolicymakers, tax adjustments, improvement between business leaders and SI Tool work, long-term sustainability, preparation of strategic documents, analysis of the organ3.1.1. The SI tool was designed to contribute to supporting these strategic needs and give the municipal W and WS organizations a way to analyze and improve their operations [8] There are many essential strategic needs of municipal W and WS organizations, including discussions between business leaders and policymakers, tax adjustments, improvement work, longterm sustainability, preparation of strategic documents, analysis of the organizations, etc.
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