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A sustainable selection method for facility location of the water treatment is formulated by best–worst method. In addition, the model addresses the selection of appropriate technologies in the treatment plant, management of water leakage in the whole transmission network by using modernization and selection of different transmission technologies. Finally, the interaction between water and energy in this network seems to be paying particular attention.

Rapid population growth and urban development, and the constraints of water supply have become one of the crucial challenges around the world in the 21st century. Hence, the use of refined urban wastewater is increasing in many countries as an alternative source of water. In this regard, the rehabilitation of urban wastewater recycling and reuse has been proposed as one of the most suitable solutions for urban water management. Hence, in this paper, a mathematical model is formulated to design the simultaneous marketing of the urban water distribution network and wastewater treatment (including).

It seeks to ensure that energy is supplied through chemical methods to ensure that the system's energy dependence is on the national electricity grid. And in order to validate the model, a case study has been studied. By analyzing the results, it can be concluded that the upgrading of sewage treatment plants to replace underground water and water from nearby dams in household, agricultural and industrial applications will have positive environmental and economic impacts. One of the notable environmental impacts is the decline in groundwater and water scarcity in the coming years.

The summary of contributions is presented follow as: design and planning of water and urban wastewater integrated network; sustainable selection of facility location for the water treatment; capability selecting different treatment technologies in simultaneous design water and urban sewage supply chain; managing water leak in the network; proposed a water–energy nexus model in simultaneous design water and urban sewage supply chain; studying the feasibility of construction of power plants from biogas, the resulting of anaerobic digestion in treatment centers.

In industrialised countries water service providers (WSPs) must provide an appropriate level of service with an acceptable performance at an acceptable cost to customers. In the UK a move towards sustainable development is now also a major goal for WSPs. However, the imposition of institutional systems and regulatory targets still encourage the adoption of less sustainable technologies or solutions by the water industry. It is within this context, that the Sustainable Water industry Asset Resource Decisions (SWARD) project has developed a set of decision support processes that allow WSPs to assess the relative sustainability of water/wastewater system asset development decisions. A Guidebook has been produced that takes the WSP and its stakeholders through the processes essential to incorporating sustainability in asset investment decision‐making. Several case studies that demonstrate the SWARD principles in application are included within the Guidebook, the experience of which is described in this paper.

The purpose of this study is to determine the barriers and constraints executive decision-makers have to face during the delivery method selection stage of water and wastewater projects using alternative project delivery (APD) methods, e.g. design-build (DB), design-build-operate (DBO) and construction management-at-risk (CMAR).

Structured interviews were conducted with 18 executive decision-makers from public agencies to identify the reasons for transitioning to APD from the design-bid-build (DBB) method. Respondents were also asked about the major obstacles they faced during the decision-making process, as well as key positive and negative factors in using APD methods. The executive decision-makers were also asked about their lessons learned during this process. In addition, this study collected key steps in making APD water and wastewater projects successful. All of the findings from the interview phase were validated by seven public agency executive decision-makers of water and wastewater industries.

One major study finding was that executive decision-makers chose the APD method because it provided cost and schedule benefits and the owner could also choose the designer or builder based on qualifications. The study also found that the main obstacles executive decision-makers faced were: (1) difficulty in implementing APD methods because they do not follow the low-bid process, (2) reluctance to use DB/CMAR because of the status quo and (3) unfamiliarity of city councils/elected commissions with the DB/CMAR process. The validation survey found that most findings from the initial phase of interviews were confirmed by the executives who took part in validation phase.

The major limitation of this research is the small sample size. As the executive decision-makers are very hard to reach for interviews, the authors failed to get interviews from a large number of them, despite repeated efforts made by the authors. Another limitation of this study is that the authors contacted most of the executive decision-makers listed in the WDBC list. These executive decision-makers worked for public agencies and, therefore, the views from private agencies could not be included in this research. The authors understand that the validation of the study findings is very important. However, due to the scope and limited time available for the research, the authors could not validate the findings of this study with other public agencies.

Selecting APD methods instead of DBB methods in water and wastewater projects for public agencies is a crucial issue during the project planning phase. Agencies' executive decision-makers need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of APD methods, along with the transition process in order to smoothly deliver projects. The findings of this study will assist public agency executive decision-makers to mitigate risks, overcome obstacles and become more educated about the APD method process, so that these projects can be successfully delivered within budget and on time.

This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge by identifying lessons learned related to various APD method issues, which can be utilized by municipal executive decision-makers to successfully complete future APD projects.

The purpose of this paper is to carry out an analysis of Italian water utility companies to determine whether their performance was related to certain relevant variables that have been broadly discussed in the existing literature. Among these are ownership structure, size and diversification. In addition, the paper considers another variable – the geographical location.

The paper reviewed the annual financial statements of 80 Italian water utility companies between 2004 and 2008. It also obtained data regarding tariffs, volumes supplied and population served from Conviri, the Italian national authority for water. Finally, the paper discusses the significant differences among clusters, using parametric statistic methods.

It was found that ownership structure, size, diversification and geographical location had an impact on the performance of water utility companies, although with different degrees of significance.

Further studies are necessary in order to improve the way that performance of water utilities is assessed. First of all, it might be helpful to improve our data categories, adding financial data, tariffs, volumes supplied and population served for more than one year and obtaining segmental reports for multi‐utilities. In addition, it would be interesting to apply other methods, such as DEA analysis, to confirm our research findings.

For a local authority it is convenient to entrust water services to publicly owned companies because they apply lower tariffs and make higher investments pro capita on the pipe network. Moreover, since economies of scale and scope exist, a company's growth and diversification should be encouraged.

In Italy the water industry is currently the focus of a vast political debate. As a matter of fact, a recent law (n. 133/2008 article 23‐bis modified in November 2009) encourages private administration of this industry. The results led to an improvement in the debate on the strategic choices and organizational structure of water utilities, giving helpful suggestions to policy makers and local authorities for developing future strategies.

The research findings improve the existing literature on performance assessment regarding water utilities, for the first time focusing on the Italian context, where companies with different features coexist: public and private utilities, small, medium and large companies as well as mono and multi‐utilities.

The primary objective of this study is to develop a predictive model that will predict the swimmability of certain areas of a brackish water body (Lake Pontchartrain) based on physicochemical and meteorological conditions.

Samples were collected and analyzed for bacteria indicator organisms at 13 sites along and adjacent to Lincoln Beach for four years. Physicochemical parameters and meteorological data were also recorded. A logistic regression model and an artificial neural networks (ANNs) model were both used to predict whether a lake condition is “safe to swim” or “not safe to swim”, given only physicochemical and meteorological parameters.

Both models predicted very well the results observed when lake conditions were “safe to swim” (97.7 percent of time the statistical model predicted correctly and an average >99.5 percent of the time for the ANNs model). However, for conditions under which the lake water quality was “not safe to swim”, the statistical model predicted correctly only 5.6 percent of the time. The ANNs model successfully predicted the “not safe to swim” conditions for an average 98.5 percent of the time. However, this percentage decreases to 53.9 percent when ANNs is used for forecasting “not safe to swim” conditions.

The poorer performance of both models for “not safe to swim” conditions is probably due to the fact that most data (84.5 percent) were collected during “safe to swim” conditions. The limited database for “not safe to swim” conditions resulted in a poorer forecasting success rate.

The ANNs model might serve as a useful tool for public beach management with increased data on “not safe to swim” conditions.

Reliability centered maintenance (RCM) is a process used to determine activities to be taken to ensure an asset continues to perform asset's function in asset's present operating context by identifying asset's function, failure modes that could preclude performing asset's intended function, prioritizing failure modes and determining effective preventative maintenance tasks that can be cost effectively and efficiently implemented to reduce the likelihood of a failure.

A comprehensive survey of literature was undertaken to examine the current industry state of practice. Various industries were examined to better understand applications of RCM within the various industry sectors and determine those industries that RCM has not historically been readily adopted. A case study example of RCM applied to radial gates for water control in open channel canals for water conveyance is presented to demonstrate a civil infrastructure application.

The results found that RCM has been used since RCM's inception in the airline industry during the 1960s to reduce the cost of maintaining aircrafts. Over the past 40 years, an assortment of industries has begun implementing cost effective preventative maintenance tasks identified during RCM analysis. However, there is a noticeable lack of civil assets being analyzed by RCM, such as water conveyance systems and other civil infrastructure systems vital to the health and well-being of today's societies.

The comprehensive literature review of the current state of practice will provide a better understanding of the various applications of RCM to facilitate RCM's application to other industries, thereby reducing failure due to early identification of maintenance tasks. An example RCM demonstrates the application to a radial gate, used in water conveyance for the drinking water and irrigation sectors, which have not historically used RCM for developing maintenance strategies.

Advancements in real-time water monitoring technologies permit rapid detection of water quality, and threats from waste loads. Water Framework Directive mandating the establishment of Member States’ water resources monitoring, presence of hazardous contaminants in effluents, and perception of vulnerability of water distribution system to attacks, have spurred technical and economic interests. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

As alternative to traditional analyzers, chemosensors, operate according to physical principles, without sample collection (online), and are capable of supplying parameter values continuously and in real-time. Their low selectivity and stability issues have been overcome by technological developments. This review paper contains a comprehensive survey of existing and expected online monitoring technologies for measurement/detection of pollutants in water.

The state-of-the-art in online water monitoring is presented. Application examples are reported. Monitoring costs will become a lesser part of a water utility budget due to the fact that automation and technological simplification will abate human cost factors, and reduce the complexity of laboratory procedures.

An overview of applicable instrumentation, and forthcoming developments, is given. Technological development in this field is very rapid, and astonishing advances are anticipated in several areas (fingerprinting, optochemical sensors, biosensors, molecular techniques). Online monitoring is becoming an ever-important tool not only for compliance control or plant management purposes, but also as a useful approach to pollution control and reduction, minimizing the environmental impact of discharges.

Infrastructure projects lend themselves quite naturally to the domain of collaborative networks, because they are not feasible without the coordinated efforts of several independent and heterogeneous actors. This chapter analyzes the nature and role of multilateral collaboration in the early stages of local infrastructure projects.

After having developed a conceptual model of collaborative approaches to early project stages, a survey was designed and targeted at experienced and informed managers of utilities that develop infrastructural facilities in Italy.

The empirical analysis reveals that collaboration with local governments and other stakeholders is sought by managers mainly to acquire knowledge about project options and feasibility, and to improve public acceptance.

There has been a significant increase in the use of relationship contracting in the global construction industry, with strategies such as Partnering, Alliancing and Public-Private Partnerships all used. These approaches were introduced to the Australian construction industry in the 1990s in an attempt to overcome the adversarial nature of traditional contracting methods. The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that influence the successful implementation of Project Alliancing by means of a case study approach focusing on the procurement of a large water treatment plant. The research findings identify critical success factors (CSFs) both from literature and the case study project.

The research traces the origins of Alliancing and identifies CSFs by reviewing literature and analysing a current case study project. The paper first identifies CSFs on a global scale by establishing a theoretical framework of CSFs and then compares this to the case study project. A case study of an Australian Alliance project is investigated whereby a semi-structured interview process, involving senior managers from the six partners from the Alliance, was used in conjunction with a review of project documentation. The findings of the case study project are compared to the literature and any new CSFs are identified.

Alliancing helps to establish and manage the relationships between all parties, remove barriers and encourage maximum contribution to achieve success. Alliancing provides a project delivery method that promotes open communication, equality and a systematic problem resolution process. Team culture focusing on an “open book/no blame” approach is vital to the success of an Alliance. Five CSFs were identified as specifically influencing the success of the case study project: the use of an integrated Alliance office; the staging of project and stretch targets; establishing project specific key performance indicators; facilitating on-going workshops; and the integration of a web-based management programme.

The research findings assist both public and private sectors by identifying factors that are critical for success in Alliancing. Five additional factors were identified as specifically influencing the success of the case study project. Since this research was conducted, Australia has seen a further increase in relationship contracting where the likes of Alliancing is often used as the default approach for certain Public Sector projects. Ongoing research into Alliancing is vital to ensure the development of sustainable procurement models, successful operational viability, fair risk distribution and value for money.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new methodology called overall greenness performance for value stream mapping (OGP-VSM). Using value-added concepts, this approach has the potential to integrate, measure, control and improve productive and environmental performance in accordance with a company’s context.

The OGP-VSM approach was developed by reviewing and integrating the environmental aspects of existing lean thinking tools and approaches.

This research revealed the lack of practical integration between productive and environmental performance. Using OGP-VSM, managers can see that environmental practices have a direct impact on productivity. OGP-VSM allows a balance to be found between lean and green practices in order to achieve the simultaneous improvement of productivity and environmental performance.

The proposed approach is applied to a case study in an automotive company in Spain and lays the groundwork for moving toward functional environmental sustainability in manufacturers.

Companies are increasingly implementing environmentally focused practices. Pursuing environmentally friendly (green) performance poses several challenges, but it also affords opportunities to create new methodologies for generating a competitive advantage for manufacturing companies. There are a limited number of approaches to drawing together the elements and attributes that are essential for a holistic, practical and long-lasting improvement of environmental performance in the manufacturing sector.