Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
and allowances are not uncommon (German Federal Association of the German Gas
and Water Industries (BGW)
2007
, as cited in Althoff
2007
).
On behalf of the German Association of German Gas and Water Management,
the Metropolitan Consulting Group has undertaken a study to compare costs in
water supply and wastewater disposal in European countries. The study is based on
three levels, including (a) comparison of average turnover tax included in the
country-speci
c prices for the consumer; (b) cost recovering water prices, including
subsidies and allowances after taxes; (c) price at a uniform performance level, i.e.
how high the cost level for water and wastewater would be at a performance and
quality level similar to that in Germany. The result of the study indicated that
if
England/Wales and France reached the German quality standard, for both countries
the annual costs for drinking water would amount to 106 euros per capita and hence
the costs would be higher than in Germany (84 euros per capita)
“
(VEWA-Studie
2006
, as cited in Althoff
2007
). For wastewater disposal the price in England/
Wales would be 138 euros per capita, and for France the price would be 122 euros
per capita. Hence both countries would be more expensive than Germany where the
comparable price was 119 euros per capita. (VEWA-Studie
2006
, as cited in Althoff
2007
).
”
12.8 Benchmarking in Water Management
The development of water industry benchmarking is a joint effort between the water
industry and its political partners. Since 1950, a systematic comparison has been
implemented in the German water supply and wastewater disposal sector. In 2003,
the water industry cooperatively developed and re
ned a conceptual framework for
benchmarking; and later a large-scale propagation of voluntary benchmarking was
undertaken (Althoff
2007
). In 2005, the German Association for Water, Waste-
water, and Waste signed the extended
Statement of the associations of the water
industry on benchmarking in the water sector
“
, in which the associations agreed to a
regular submission of their information for comparison (Althoff
2007
).
The voluntary benchmarking is carried out by independent private providers,
which ensures a high quality standard of benchmarking. According to a 2011
Pro
”
le of the German Water Sector,
“
the benchmarking methods are continuously
re
ned by research institutes in cooperation with practitioners from the water
industry. An example of this re
nement is the development of detailed performance
indicators for the processes of water abstraction, processing and distribution.
As a
result, the German water industry is able to ensure that supply security, supply
quality, economic ef
”
ciency, and sustainability are continually assessed through a
benchmarking process.
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