Developing the Overall Performance Index for Water Supply Systems based on Fair Benchmarking and Strong Sustainability

Developing the Overall Performance Index for Water Supply Systems based on Fair Benchmarking and Strong Sustainability | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Developing the Overall Performance Index for Water Supply Systems based on Fair Benchmarking and Strong Sustainability Hassan Baniasadi, Abdollah Rashidi Mehrabadi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4159986/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 5 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Performance assessment indicators play a crucial role in evaluating water supply systems (WSSs). Developing a Composite Indicator (CI) that integrates key performance indicators (KPIs) offers significant advantages. This study aims to explore various aspects of creating a CI for assessing WSS performance, including clustering, normalizing, weighting, and aggregating KPIs. Data corresponding to selected KPIs from diverse WSSs in Iran were collected and categorized into four dimensions: Environmental, Financial, Organizational, and Social, to ensure comprehensive performance evaluation and calculation of an Overall Performance Index (OPI). A new multi-criteria method was employed to assign weights to KPIs in the CI Based on the concept of non-compensation. WSSs were grouped into clusters based on population, water resource type, and climate, and KPIs were normalized accordingly based on fair benchmarking. A non-linear (Geometric) method was utilized to aggregate KPIs, emphasizing strong sustainability and non-compensation interactions. The change in the results of the selected method was compared with the previous methods. The study found that method variation at each stage of CI development significantly affected the OPI and ranking of WSSs. Population emerged as a significant factor, and key findings include the substantial impact of resource type and climate on specific KPIs, underscoring the need to consider influencing factors in benchmarking. The non-linear aggregation method demonstrated greater rigor and sustainability compared to linear methods, aligning with principles of fair benchmarking and WSS sustainability. Composite indicator Overall performance index Strong Sustainability water supply systems benchmarking sustainability performance Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revisions 17 Apr, 2024 Reviewers agreed at journal 27 Mar, 2024 Reviewers invited by journal 27 Mar, 2024 Editor assigned by journal 25 Mar, 2024 First submitted to journal 25 Mar, 2024 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4159986","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":284587799,"identity":"2e8c6a3f-1135-41d4-b07c-48d1673c6feb","order_by":0,"name":"Hassan Baniasadi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Shahid Beheshti University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hassan","middleName":"","lastName":"Baniasadi","suffix":""},{"id":284587800,"identity":"7717a9b0-18cc-4b6f-b166-6219bab2d248","order_by":1,"name":"Abdollah Rashidi Mehrabadi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAzklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLACxgYJxjb2BjYIj5loLTwHSNMC0pXARpyb+Bt4H378ucNCtk/y+bPHPAx28gzsvA/wapE4wG4szXtGwrhNOsfcmIch2bCBmd0AvzVAH0gztkkkArWwSfMwMCcwMBNwoPwBNuafP0FaJI8/A2qpJ6zF4AAbmwQvSIsEgxlQy2HCWgyBWqyBWozbeHLMDecYHDdsI6RFDuiwmz/b6mTntx9/9uBNRbU8P/8x/FoY5B+guJOBgcjYGQWjYBSMglGADwAAWUUz5eiGBlcAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Shahid Beheshti University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Abdollah","middleName":"Rashidi","lastName":"Mehrabadi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-03-25 01:48:44","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4159986/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4159986/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":53861649,"identity":"490ad026-46b3-4ea0-9010-04e1a1825c13","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-04-01 12:59:07","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":621501,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4159986/v1_covered_5869b1c0-06bd-403e-b9c8-9396331c6899.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Developing the Overall Performance Index for Water Supply Systems based on Fair Benchmarking and Strong Sustainability","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"water-resources-management","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"warm","sideBox":"Learn more about [Water Resources Management](https://www.springer.com/journal/11269)","snPcode":"11269","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/11269/3","title":"Water Resources Management","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Composite indicator, Overall performance index, Strong Sustainability, water supply systems, benchmarking, sustainability performance","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4159986/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4159986/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003ePerformance assessment indicators play a crucial role in evaluating water supply systems (WSSs). 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