Benchmarking and performance indicators in Portugal: A case study of a water supply company

Rapid population growth and urbanisation are being experienced worldwide; in industrialised and developing countries alike, although more vigorously in the latter. The implicating pressures placed on social services, infrastructure, and the environment is enormous. The urban water cycle and water supply services are among the essential systems affected. Thus, the need to constantly improve the quality, availability, efficiency, and affordability of water in urbanised environments is paramount. The presence of performance measuring systems is among the tools utilised to attain these parameters and improve the quality of service in water companies. This dissertation aims to attain an empirical understanding of benchmarking and the application of regulated performance indicators to determine the quality of service in water companies, over a 6-year evaluation period. The 14 Portuguese regulated performance indicators were applied to 24 water companies, and the performance of an identified water company; Be Water - Águas de Ourém was compared to the national and cluster performance. The advantage and effectiveness of benchmarking and the use of regulated PIs was evident in this work. The PIs produced a measurable status quo and its evolution for all the multi-dimensional water companies, and the benchmarking offered an opportunity to identify the ‘best practice’ and a reference point to explore the characteristics, systems, and technologies used to promote operation and management productivity