Interruptions In Water Supply Research Articles

Water Supply Pipeline Failure Evaluation Model Based on Particle Swarm Optimization Neural Network

The degradation and failure of the urban water supply network may lead to serious safety hazards, including pipe breaks, water supply interruptions, water resource losses, and contaminant intrusions. The risk evaluation of water supply pipeline failure in a distribution network is a challenging task, because most of the available data cannot fully reflect pipeline failure events and many of the mechanisms still cannot be fully understood. Therefore, a predictive model is urgently needed to assess pipeline failure risk based on available data. In this paper, based on the traditional risk assessment theory, seven main factors affecting pipeline failure are selected and scored, and then a pipeline failure model is established by using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) neural network. The model uses the neural network training of historical data to evaluate the failure of the water supply pipeline, and the PSO is used to optimize the neural network to effectively improve the training time and accuracy. The model error and correlation coefficient are 0.003 and 0.987, respectively. The proposed model can be used as a powerful support tool to assist infrastructure managers and pipeline maintainers in their plans and decision-making.

Barriers to Clean and Safe Water Access in Juba: AA-QQ-RD Framework on SDG 6 in South Sudan

Juba, the capital city of South Sudan while, presenting a unique case as a rapidly growing city in a post-conflict country, its water infrastructure has been severely affected by decades of conflict, leaving it inadequate and underdeveloped. This study was conducted with the main objective of establishing factors causing the inadequacy of clean and safe water among households in Juba City. This study employed a proposed AA-QQ-RD (Availability, Affordability, Quality, Quantity, Reliability, and Distance) framework. The research employed a qualitative methodology, gathering data through in-depth interviews, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) with household heads, government officials, and community leaders. The findings reveal significant challenges across all components of the AA-QQ-RD model. Availability of water is severely impacted by poor infrastructure which collectively disrupt water distribution while affordability issues arise from the high cost of water. In addition, water quality is compromised at multiple stages posing serious health risks while quantity of water is insufficient, particularly in larger households and densely populated areas. Further, reliability is undermined by irregular water supply and frequent service interruptions whereas distance to the nearest water points is a significant barrier with many residents traveling long distances to fetch water. These findings underscore the need for comprehensive infrastructural improvements, effective regulatory frameworks, and community-driven initiatives to address these barriers. The study's implications for Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) highlight the critical need for coordinated efforts to ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF CREATING SOURCES OF SHARED WATER USE IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

The purpose of the article is to study the financial and economic aspects of creating sources of shared water use in rural communities, substantiating their feasibility, importance for providing the population with high-quality drinking water and sustainable economic growth.|The article states the fact of deterioration of water supply in rural areas both in quantitative and qualitative aspects. The way out can be seen in the solution of issues regarding the use of underground water, which is better protected than surface water resources, by increasing the number of sources of shared water supply. It has been substantiated that as a result of free water use, rural communities can receive such advantages as the improvement of the quality of drinking water, the efficiency of water resources, use the reliability, security and stability of the water supply source. The measures of financial and economic regulation of the use of groundwater, among which the diversification of funding sources for the renewal of water management infrastructure facilities, the attraction of credit and grant funds to renew the technical and technological base of water management enterprises, and to improve monitoring procedure for the extraction of groundwater from deep wells, have been systematized.The article reflects the results of a survey conducted in order to find out the opinion of the respondents regarding the sources of water intake, the presence of interruptions in the water supply of populated areas of Chernihiv Oblast, the need to create shared water use facilities in the community and the sources of funding for their creation. The vast majority of respondents have reported that in their communities they use wells, their own boreholes and there are interruptions in water supply, there are problems with wells drying up.

Improving Resilience in Water Distribution Systems: An Application of the House of Risk Method at PDAM Gowa Unit Tompobulu

PDAM Gowa, a local government-owned company, plays a vital role in supplying clean water to the Tompobulu community in Gowa District. However, ensuring efficient and reliable water distribution poses challenges at the local and regional levels. This research focuses on enhancing the resilience of the water distribution system to mitigate various risks. The study utilizes the House of Risk (HOR) method for effective risk management and developing suitable mitigation strategies within PDAM's framework. The research identifies 10 risk events and 17 risk factors that affect water distribution in PDAM. Key risks include pipe leakage and supply disruptions. To mitigate these risks, the study proposes nine actionable recommendations for PDAM Gowa Unit Tompobulu. These recommendations involve regular maintenance of distribution infrastructure and equipment to ensure system quality and reliability. Additionally, improving pipe network condition monitoring, implementing leakage control policies, and fostering collaboration with stakeholders to address water supply disruptions are crucial mitigation measures. This research significantly contributes to understanding the risk management associated with water distribution in PDAM. By implementing the recommended mitigation strategies, PDAM Gowa Unit Tompobulu can reduce water distribution risks, enhance system efficiency, and provide improved clean water services to consumers. Moreover, the study has the potential to drive scientific progress and promote the development of best practices and technologies in the drinking water industry.

Assessment of the financial and economic situation at Ukrainian enterprises during the war

The financial stability of the enterprise is the main criterion that indicates its financial condition and ensures successful functioning. With the beginning of the war, many Ukrainian enterprises became insolvent due to their own financial problems, illiquidity and circumstances that made it impossible to continue business. The paper analyzes the results of a survey of domestic business entities with regard to their expectations regarding the current financial situation. It is studied the share of enterprises operating at full and almost full capacity compared to the pre-war period. There are clarified the main challenges that domestic enterprises are exposed to during the war, in terms of industries. During the war, problems with electricity, water and heat supply interruptions and rising prices for raw materials shared the first place in the rating of business obstacles. Difficulties with the transportation of raw materials and goods in Ukraine were recognized as the third most significant problem. Labor safety ranks fourth in the rating. Disruption of supply chains ranks fifth. There are summarized the main transformations that took place in the country's economy during the war and affected the financial stability of domestic enterprises. They are the following: enterprises revised their approaches to labor organization and the dimensions of production or service provision; in two-thirds of enterprises there was a reduction in personnel; half of the enterprises reviewed their customer base and/or suppliers; businesses began investing in business continuity (generators, communications) and security (relocation costs or employee safety). All of this complicates the financial condition of the business, because at the same time as income decreases, the items of forced expenses increase. From these positions, indicators of the assessment of the financial and economic situation and expectations in the future at Ukrainian enterprises are studied. As a result, there are systematized the directions of adaptation of domestic enterprises to support financial security in wartime, namely: attraction of direct and indirect financial investments, resumption of export of own products and participation in state and international financial aid programs.

Water Supply Interruptions Are Associated with More Frequent Stressful Behaviors and Emotions but Mitigated by Predictability: A Multisite Study.

Water supply interruptions contribute to household water insecurity. Unpredictable interruptions may particularly exacerbate water insecurity, as uncertainty limits households' ability to optimize water collection and storage or to modify other coping behaviors. This study used regression models of survey data from 2873 households across 10 sites in 9 middle-income countries to assess whether water supply interruptions and the predictability of interruptions were related to composite indicators of stressful behaviors and emotional distress. More frequent water service interruptions were associated with more frequent emotional distress (β = 0.49, SE = 0.05, P < 0.001) and stressful behaviors (β = 0.39, SE = 0.06, P < 0.001). Among households that experienced interruptions, predictability mitigated these respective relationships by approximately 25 and 50%. Where the provision of continuous water supplies is challenged by climate change, population growth, and poor management, water service providers may be able to mitigate some psychosocial consequences of intermittency through scheduled intermittency and communication about water supply interruptions. Service providers unable to supply continuous water should optimize intermittent water delivery to reduce negative impacts on users, and global monitoring regimes should account for intermittency and predictability in post-2030 water service metrics to better reflect household water insecurity experiences.

Multi-objective optimization and long-term performance evaluation of a hybrid solar-hydrogen energy system with retired electric vehicle batteries for off-grid power and heat supply

This paper presents a novel off-grid hybrid renewable energy system integrated with hydrogen production and retired electric vehicle (EV) batteries for combined power and heat supply to a small rural community. The system consists of photovoltaic (PV) panels, evacuated tube solar collectors, a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), an alkaline electrolyzer, compressed hydrogen storage tanks, and reused lithium-ion batteries from EVs. A new battery model is developed in the Transient System Simulation Program (TRNSYS) to capture the capacity degradation of retired batteries. A two-stage energy management strategy is proposed to regulate power flow and maximize solar energy utilization. The system is optimized for minimum power supply disruption, hot water supply disruption, energy waste, and annualized costs over a 20-year lifetime using a multi-objective NSGA-II algorithm coupling MATLAB and TRNSYS. Optimization results reveal tradeoffs between the competing objectives. Dynamic simulations show the water tank temperature fluctuates between 20 and 100 °C with mean values dropping slightly in later years due to battery degradation. Energy waste from components rises in later years for the same reason. The replacement interval for a retired EV battery module is around 2.5 years. The integrated system proves feasible for off-grid combined power and heat supply using solar energy and retired EV batteries as storage, though battery degradation impacts long-term performance.

WATER MANGEMENT IN SOCIAL HOUSING, STRETEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE USE

Water is considered as a finite resource, in this context, studies suggest that by 2050, one in four people in the world will be affected by problems related to water service. In Ecuador, there is an alarming problem concerning the lack of awareness in the efficient use of water, since the daily consumption of liters per capita is 237 liters, which doubles the consumption recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and 40% higher than the regional average. The Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 11 aim to achieve universal and equitable access to water, sanitation and hygiene services by 2030. This research aims to propose sustainable strategies to optimize the use of water in single-family homes of social interest based on the results of the Ciudad Victoria, Loja-Ecuador housing complex. It was developed in four phases: climate data collection, satisfaction and demand surveys, housing characterization, data tabulation to propose strategies validated in water demand scenarios using CYPECAD MEP software. Data are obtained on the consumption of water used for household chores and 310-liter sanitary appliances, exceeding the 100-liter recommendation stated by the WHO. In this study, the data was alarming as households experience water supply interruptions throughout the year, and they lack reserve systems. Implemented strategies enabled a reduction in water consumption of between 30% and 50% per household.

Photosynthesis of rice leaves with a parallel venation is highly tolerant to vein severing.

Vein severing in plants caused by leaf damage is common in fields where crops are cultivated. It is hypothesized that leaves with complex reticulate venation can withstand hydraulic disturbances caused by vein severing, thereby preserving leaf carbon assimilation. However, limited research focuses on vein damage of leaves with parallel venation. We studied how vein-severing affected the photosynthetic traits of rice (Oryza sativa) leaves in seconds, minutes and days, under varying water-demand conditions and differing extents of water supply disruption. Rice leaves completely lost their photosynthetic capacity within 2.5 minutes after excision. Severing the midrib resulted in reduced light-saturated photosynthetic rate (A), stomatal conductance (gsw ) and transpiration rate (E) by 2.6, 6.8 and 5.9%, respectively, already after thirty minutes. We further investigated the photosynthetic trait responses to various extents of leaf width severing, while keeping the midrib functional. Surprisingly, A, gsw and E in the downstream area of the severed leaves largely remained stable, showing minimal variation across different leaf width severing ratios. These traits declined only slightly even under increased ambient light intensity and leaf-to-air vapor pressure deficit. This sustained photosynthesis post-severing is attributed to the efficient lateral water transport. Long-term leaf damage slightly but not significantly, impacted the downstream photosynthetic traits within five days post-severing. However, a more pronounced reduction in gas exchange during leaf senescence was observed nine days after severing. These findings suggested that rice leaves can tolerate hydraulic disturbances from vein severing and maintain functionality under various conditions, which is crucial for crop yield stability. However, long-term consequences require further investigation.

Prioritising climate adaptation options to minimise financial and distributional impacts of water supply disruptions

Climate-related disruptions to water supply infrastructure services incur direct financial losses to utilities (e.g. to repair damaged assets) and externalise a societal cost to domestic customers due to additional costs that they may incur (e.g. to acquire water from alternative sources). The latter often represents an uncompensated social burden, which should be properly accounted for in investment planning. Here we present a new framework for quantifying direct financial risks burdened by utilities and alternative water purchase losses incurred by domestic customers, including those in low-income groups, during flood- and drought-induced utility water supply disruptions. This framework enables the comparison of benefit-cost ratios of a portfolio of flood protection and leakage reduction for water supply systems across the island of Jamaica. A system-level optioneering analysis allows the identification of the optimal adaptation option per system. We estimate that 34% of systems would benefit from flood defences and 53% would benefit from leakage reduction to adaptation to droughts. The benefit that could be achieved by implementing all system optimised adaptation options is estimated to be 720 million Jamaican dollars per year on average, representing a substantial saving for the utility and its customers, including low-income customers. We identify options that offer strong synergies between economic and equity objectives for both types of adaptation option. The proposed framework is established to support the business case for climate adaptation in the water supply sector and to prioritise across flood and drought mitigation options. We take a first step towards mainstreaming equity considerations in water supply sector optioneering frameworks by estimating the contribution of adaptation options towards reducing household costs for low-income customers.

NATURAL RESOURCES OF UKRAINE: CONSEQUENCES AND RISKS OF RUSSIAN AGGRESSION

The natural resources of Ukraine are suffering from russia forces. Ukraine is known as one of Europe’s largest grain producers. Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat (accounts for 10% of world exports), corn (15%), barley (15%), and sunflower (especially oil – 50%). The ongoing the Russian-Ukrainian war strengthens the unstable economic system in country. Military actions influence the environment of Ukraine in terms of climate change, soil and impact on agriculture, water security and supply. According to this, grain production in Ukraine decreased by 40%, and structure of crop losses due to war: wheat – 39%, sunflowers – 17%, corn – 12%, barley – 8%, fruits and berries – 3%, other crops – 21%. In addition, the Russian-Ukrainian war has impacted water availability and quality (risk for water resources), soil quality and degradation (risk for soil resources), forest health and productivity and habitat of species (risk for biological resources). For instance, the description of sewage treatment plants (the sewage treatment facilities were shelled in the city of Mykolaiv city, the sewage treatment facilities in the village of Novotroitske, Volnovasky district, Donetsk oblast were damaged etc. ), disruption of water supply to the crop production (damaged irrigation systems in Ukraine: 94% in the Kherson region, 74% in the Zaporizhia region, 30% in the Dnipropetrovsk region ), pollution of the surface and underground waters (massive flooding of military equipment and ammunition in reservoirs, leaks of oil products and other chemical compounds). In this article, we analyzed of the environmental situation under the impact of russian aggression on the state of natural resources of the country and justification of the consequences of this impact; identified the determination of the main risks for providing the country with food and the branches of the national economy with water supply, as well as the preservation of environmental components; proposed the development of proposals for the assessment of environmental damage to the environment as a result of the military aggression of the russian federation against Ukraine. We have identified the main risk: for food safety (the impact of military actions on soil resources – a risk of reduced food provision potential due to the loss of land productivity, since up to 30% of agricultural land is mined and according to the results of 2022, the crop yield losses has reached 17%); for environmental safety (the impact on military actions on water resources – damaged the dams and drainage systems, destruction of sewage treatment plants, seizure of hydroelectric power plants, and mining of coastline caused bacterial (oil products, lubricants) and organic (biogenic substances) pollution of water bodies and water shortages for the population (complete absence of water supply in temporarily occupied territories) and agriculture (irrigation networks were affected)); for protection of ecosystems (up to 20% of the reserve fund has already been affected, 600 species of fauna and 750 species of flora, including those listed in the Red Data Book, are threatened with extinction).

Index-based insurance to mitigate current and future extreme events financial losses for water utilities

Mitigation and management strategies for extreme weather events become increasingly important for the development and maintenance of society as these events become more frequent and intense. Drought and flood management strategies have focused on structural measures; however, they are not sufficient to prevent water supply disruptions and economic losses. In this concept, adaptation plays the role of anticipating the adverse financial impacts of extreme weather events and taking appropriate measures to minimize them. Therefore, insurance is a valuable adaptation tool to offset unexpected losses and prevent financial damage from turning into long-term economic damage. We simulated multi-year and multi-risk index-based insurance for a Water Supply System, responsible for providing water to 7.2 million people. Our methodology comprises (1) characterizing the indexed variable, (2) calculating economic losses by Loss Distribution Approach (LDA) for current and future periods, and (3) estimating risk premiums based on expected losses of the low, medium, and high coverage levels. Our findings indicate a linear relationship between premium and coverage level, i.e, the higher the premium, the higher the insurance coverage level. We suggested a premium fee for each evaluated scenario, which would be introduced into the water bill as a novel way to pool risk among customers and protect them from surcharge fluctuations.

Maritime Network Analysis Based on Geographic Information System for Water Supply Using Shipboard Seawater Desalination System

Small islands are supplied with water from underground sources, simple seawater desalination facilities, or water supply shipment. However, this water supply can be interrupted because of the sudden depletion of groundwater, as groundwater level prediction is inaccurate. Additionally, seawater desalination facilities are difficult to maintain, resulting in frequent breakdowns. When the water tank capacity is below a certain level, island residents contact the water supply shipment manager to request a shipment from land. In Korea, a seawater desalination plant project using ships was newly attempted to solve the water supply problem for island regions. Through this project, an attempt was made to supply water to many island areas suffering water supply disruptions due to drought. The purpose of this study is to compare water supply routes to multiple island regions using existing water supply shipment with desalination plants on ships through network analysis based on a geographic information system. To optimize sailing route, length (m), road connection type, and name of each road section, actual operation data, distance, etc., were set up on a network dataset and analyzed. In addition, the operational model predicted the stability of water supply using the GoldSim simulator. As a result, when sailing on the optimal route based on network analysis, the existing water supply routes could be reduced (2153 km -&gt; 968 km) by more than 55%, and operational costs can be verified to be reduced. Additionally, the validity of the network analysis results was confirmed through actual travel of the representative route.

Household water insecurity experiences and their perceived determinants in a low-income community of Cartagena, Colombia, during a water service expansion project

Traditional water indicators primarily focus on water quantity and quality, but emergent research demonstrates that measurement of lived experiences with water availability, accessibility, and use is important for understanding how household water insecurity impacts health and well-being. Few empirical studies have explored which household water insecurity experiences are most salient, or their potential causes, in Latin American cities. We analyzed data from 266 households in a low-income settlement of Cartagena, Colombia, to identify correlates and perceived determinants of water insecurity. The most prevalent household water insecurity experiences were water supply interruptions (96%), water worry (94%), and anger about the water situation (90%). Unexpected water interruptions and use of non-piped primary drinking water sources were associated with greater household water insecurity scores, water worry subscores, and hygiene subscores. Respondents perceived water issues in their community to be caused by deficiencies in gray infrastructure (49%), which included deficiencies in water distribution, treatment, or storage technologies. Social infrastructure (36%), including issues with political, economic, or administrative systems, was also cited as a barrier to water security. We did not detect significant relationships between water insecurity scores and the attribution of these problems to gray or social infrastructure, but there may be relationships between these factors and duration of residency and using a non-piped water source. These findings underscore the importance of socio-political factors and community engagement for improving urban water insecurity through slum-upgrade projects.

The economic impact of water supply disruption from the Selangor River, Malaysia

Abstract The insidious economic impact of water disruption has received less attention compared to palpable climate disasters, but climate change and water security concerns call for investigation on cost consequences of property values and business losses in an already fragile water supply-demand balance in many developing countries. The economic impact of frequent water supply disruptions from the Selangor River in Malaysia due to technical issues, water pollution, and climate-related problems was estimated using the stock flow measure to assess property at risk, and survey to estimate business loss. The findings revealed that commercial, residential, and industrial property valued at RM459,041 million in 2020 in the State of Selangor and parts of Kuala Lumpur were at risk due to frequent water supply disruptions. A survey of small and medium enterprises from the manufacturing, construction, and services sectors revealed that 46% of the respondents were affected with losses amounting to RM2,053 million. The total economic impact of water supply disruption in 2020, combining both property value at risk and business loss, amounted to RM461,094 million, which accounted for 34% of Malaysia's GDP. A number of recommendations are made to prevent the widespread occurrence of water disruptions.

Corrosion Damage Detection in Headrace Tunnel Using YOLOv7 with Continuous Wall Images

Infrastructure that was constructed during the high economic growth period of Japan is starting to deteriorate; thus, there is a need for the maintenance and management of these structures. The basis of maintenance and management is the inspection process, which involves finding and recording damage. However, in headrace tunnels, the water supply is interrupted during inspection; thus, it is desirable to comprehensively photograph and record the tunnel wall and detect damage using the captured images to significantly reduce the water supply interruption time. Given this background, the aim of this study is to establish an investigation and assessment system for deformation points in the inner walls of headrace tunnels and to perform efficient maintenance and management of the tunnels. First, we develop a mobile headrace photography device that photographs the walls of the headrace tunnel with a charge-coupled device line camera. Next, we develop a method using YOLOv7 for detecting chalk marks at the damage locations made during cleaning of the tunnel walls that were photographed by the imaging system, and these results are used as a basis to develop a system that automatically accumulates and plots damage locations and distributions. For chalking detection using continuous wall surface images, a high accuracy of 99.02% is achieved. Furthermore, the system can evaluate the total number and distribution of deteriorated areas, which can be used to identify the causes of change over time and the occurrence of deterioration phenomena. The developed system can significantly reduce the duration and cost of inspections and surveys, and the results can be used to select priority repair areas and to predict deterioration through data accumulation, contributing to appropriate management of headrace tunnels.

Hydraulic Optimization Control of Cascaded Open Channel under the Emergency Scenario of a Downstream Water Supply Interruption

Downstream water supply disruption accidents commonly occur in the large-scale cascade open-channel dispatching system, endangering dispatch safety. The emergency reaction requires active drainage water volume and cost control. This research introduces a simulation optimization emergency response optimization control model using enhanced one-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation and multiobjective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO), verifying the Gangtou Gate–Beijuma Gate section (GB section) of the Middle Route Project of South-to-North Water Diversion in China. In the downstream large-flow water supply interruption scenario, we explore regulation possibilities for optimization elements, including drainage water volume, regulation frequency, and regulation interval. The optimization of the drainage water volume significantly raises the regulation frequency of the sluice when the regulation interval is fixed. The drainage water volume can be balanced and optimized, and the frequency of sluice control can be decreased, by increasing the regulation interval. The emergency response optimization control model may minimize the regulation frequency by 80% and the drainage water volume by 32.6% compared with the benchmark scheduling approach in emergencies. The model provides superior economic and applicable effects for emergency reactions to the downstream water supply disruption, with similar advantages feasible for other cascade open-channel scheduling systems.

Стан та перспективи розвитку малого і середнього підприємництва в умовах війни в Ук

This paper investigates the current state of small and medium business in Ukraine. The protracted nature of the war in Ukraine significantly destabilizes the activities of the subjects of this sector and leads to the deterioration of its development indicators. In particular, a decrease in quantity of active entities small and medium business, a decrease in the rate of registration of new entities, a shortage of own working capital in most small and medium enterprises will have a negative impact on the national economy. The main obstacles to the recovery and development of business activity during the period of validity of state of war are identified. It is the lack of financial resources; continuation of hostilities; interruptions in electricity, water and heat supply; destruction of logistics; increase in production costs; insufficient quantity of paying customers. The peculiarities of state support of small and medium business in Ukraine during the war are considered. The problems hindering the development of national small and medium business in the conditions of war are identified. It is the absence of a program document on the development of the small and medium business sector; low level of access to finance by small and medium business entities; insufficiently developed state financial support programs for IT startups; inefficiency of industrial parks. Proved, that the prospects of the development of small and medium business largely depend on ensuring the implementation of an effective state policy to stimulate its development. In this context, the priorities of the state policy in the sphere of stimulating the development of small and medium business in the conditions of the war in Ukraine are substantiated. It is the development of the State program for promoting the development of small and medium business in Ukraine, coordination of strategies and programs for the development of small and medium business at the state, regional and local levels; attraction of money from international financial organizations and international donors; creation of conditions for increasing the level of access of small and medium enterprises to finance; expansion of state grant support for IT startups; implementation of mechanisms of tax benefits for entities that resume their activities in the de-occupied territories; expansion and creation of new industrial parks with developed engineering and transport infrastructure, creation of favorable conditions for the development of small and medium business within the industrial park.

Cholera: Analysis and Assessment of Epidemiological Situation around the World and in Russia (2013–2022). Forecast for 2023

The aim of the review was to analyze and assess the epidemiological situation on cholera in the world and Russia in 2013–2022 and to make a forecast for 2023. Over the period of 2013–2022, 500 administrative territories affected by cholera were identified in various regions of 71 countries of Asia, Africa and America (the Caribbean region) with formation of 69 endemic foci in 16, 41 and 12 countries, respectively. In 2022, 1 209 301 cases of cholera were registered in 36 countries of the world. The intensity of epidemic process in Asian countries (Syria, Lebanon) increased. Unfavorable epidemiological situation on the African continent persisted. Epidemics and large outbreaks, which began in 2021–2022 due to emergency situations (ES) of social and natural character, continued. The prediction of the stability of the epidemiological situation on cholera in the territories of constituent entities of the Russian Federation (RF), given for 2022, has been confirmed. In 2022, 43 non-toxigenic strains of Vibrio cholerae О1 were isolated from surface water bodies, 8 V. cholerae nonO1/nonO139 strains – from humans. Similarity of those strains with genetically closely related ones isolated in the course of monitoring in previous years in Russia, Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and Zaporozhye Region was demonstrated. In 2023, the risks of importation of the infection into RF are retained. It is associated with the intensification of epidemic processes in Asian, African and Caribbean region countries. The extended border with Ukraine, to where importation of cholera from endemic countries is possible, contributes to increased degree of threat. Bioterrorism is also not excluded. The consequences of a possible cholera epidemic complication in DPR, Lugansk People’s Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions are exacerbated by social emergencies resulting in disruption of infrastructure, interruptions in water supply, etc. In the absence of implementation of the risks of importation of this infection on the territory of RF, a stable epidemiological situation on cholera will be retained. Detection of non-toxigenic V. cholerae O1 strains (including probability of clonal complexes formation), as well as strains of non-O1/non-O139 serogroups, which can be etiological factors of sporadic cases or outbreaks of diarrheal diseases, in surface water bodies is predicted.

Evaluation of dynamic eco-efficiency of water companies: the influence of non-revenue water and water supply interruptions

Benchmarking the dynamic performance of water companies is a powerful tool to develop sound policies. However, it requires the use of reliable and robust methods and quality of data. In this study, the stochastic nonparametric envelopment of data (StoNED) method was employed to assess productivity change and eco-productivity change of a sample of Chilean water companies over the period 2010–2018. The StoNED approach overcomes the main limitations of stochastic frontier analysis and data envelopment analysis techniques which are the most commonly used to evaluate performance of water companies. Productivity change metric focused on the economic performance, whereas eco-productivity change evaluated economic and quality of service performance by including non-revenue water and unplanned water supply interruptions. Hence, this study analyzed the impact of quality of service variables on the dynamic eco-efficiency of water companies. The annual average productivity change and eco-productivity change estimations were 0.18% and −0.14%, respectively. It was evidenced that on average the Chilean water companies have put as priority to reduce operational costs than to improve quality of service. In both performance metrics, efficiency change was the main contributor to performance changes, whereas the role of technical change was negligible. It was illustrated that full private water companies performed better than concessionary companies and the public company. Reducing non-revenue water and unplanned water supply interruptions was particularly costly for concessionary water companies. The methodology and conclusions of this study are of great interest for water regulators and water utilities to improve the benchmarking process in the provision of drinking water services.