Water Utility Service Quality Index: A customer-centred approach for assessing the quality of service in the water sector

Abstract

This work delves into the crucial role of service quality in the water supply and sanitation sector. Despite extensive research and implementation of quality management practices in this sector, a universally accepted definition of quality is still lacking, resulting in various service quality assessment procedures that are difficult to compare. To address this issue, the World Bank launched the ‘Utility of the Future’ (UoF) programme, aiming to guide water service providers in their efforts to become future-focused utilities that offer reliable, safe, inclusive, transparent, and responsive services through best-fit practices. Building upon the framework provided by the UoF programme, this study proposes the Water Utility Service Quality Index (WUSQI) - a composite indicator that reflects the quality of service provided by water supply and sanitation utilities from a customer perspective. Based on Data Envelopment Analysis, the Benefit-of-the-Doubt approach is employed to assign weights for aggregating the indicators representing the diverse performance dimensions. The study operationalises the WUSQI to assess the quality of Portuguese wholesale water and wastewater companies using data collected by the national regulator of water and waste services. A Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis technique, the Deck of Cards method, is used to specify an indicator of transparency from the information made available by the regulated utilities. The results show the effectiveness of this tool for evaluating and measuring service quality at the company level. Additionally, the findings highlight areas for improvement in the utilities’ performance. By enabling companies and regulators to identify areas for improvement, the WUSQI can support the delivery of high-quality services to customers.