1. Brussels 9 September 2014 EBC: improving water services by learning from peer utilities

2. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 2 - Peter Dane MSc 30 year in the water industry (utilities) managing director EBC Foundation management team member IWA’s Specialist Group on Benchmarking & Performance Assessment Personal introduction

3. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 3 - Contents About EBC Foundation The benchmarking rationale EBC’s benchmarking programme The network To conclude

4. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 4 - About EBC Foundation European Benchmarking Co-operation (EBC): not-for-profit benchmarking initiative for water- & wastewater utilities, initiated by Dutch & Nordic water utility associations mission: to facilitate (European) water utilities in their continuous efforts to improve performance and transparency annual exercises for water- & wastewater services > 2007 as of July 2014: EBC Foundation - governed by a Board (DANVA, DWP, EurEau, Norsk Vann, Vewin) and an Advisory Board (stakeholders) selected as EIP Water Action Group

5. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 5 - The Benchmarking Rationale – what is it? IWA’s Specialist Group on Benchmarking: benchmarking manual (2011) “benchmarking is a tool for performance improvement through systematic search and adaptation of leading practices” benchmarking = 2 consecutive steps:  performance assessment  performance improvement

6. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 6 - The Benchmarking Rationale - what is it? (2) not a single action! management tool for continuous improvement preferably embedded in yearly business planning cycle

7. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 7 - The Benchmarking Rationale – why should you? Benefits of benchmarking for utilities: provides new view on your utility’s performance access to peer utility network to learn from best practices & innovations - encourages improvement actions shows stakeholders your drive for improvement Benefits for governments/EU: stimulates compliance with national standards raises transparency, reduces need for tight, costly regulation accelerates reaching EU-objectives (resource efficiency)

8. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 8 - Does it work? Clear evidence from programmes in D, DK, NL f.e. Dutch case of benchmarking water supply for 16 years:  29% cost reduction (corrected for inflation)  still improving the service level  maintaining investment levels Quality index 2009 - 2012 Investment level 1990 - 2010

9. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 9 - Prerequisites to successful benchmarking alignment with strategic utility objectives commitment of senior management stable situation good data quality sufficient resources willingness to share knowledge and experiences/best practices

10. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 10 - EBC’s benchmarking programme - process Project preparation Data collection Data analysis& -validation Reporting Bench- marking workshop Public reporting Evaluation & closure Benchmarking process: seven consecutive steps

11. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 11 - EBC’s benchmarking programme - methodology Broad view on performance context information key performance areas  water quality  reliability  service quality  sustainability  finance & efficiency

12. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 12 - EBC’s benchmarking programme – methodology (2) utilities can choose from 3 levels:  basic  standard  advanced

13. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 13 - EBC’s benchmarking programme – methodology (3) example: drinking water balance closed model to include all water volumes

14. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 14 - example: financial scheme for drinking water activities closed model to include all revenues, costs and earnings G-002a Operating revenues from DW activities Earnings before taxes Depreciation G-038 Net interest G-031 Self-constructed assets G-035 Release of provisions zG-EBC-003 Runing costs G-005 Work-in-progress Other DW operating revenues DW sales revenues from exported water G-037 DW residential sales revenues G-036a DW non- residential sales revenues G-036bcv Earnings before taxes Net interest G-031 Self-constructed assets G-035 General Customer service Water quality control Water catchment area man. Distribution Production RevenuesCosts Closed model Self constructed assets G-035 EBC’s benchmarking programme – methodology (4)

15. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 15 - Key deliverables Individual company reports to check data & identify performance gaps “dashboard” presentation of results and detailed comparisons

16. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 16 - Key deliverables (2) Annual benchmarking workshop essential part of the benchmarking exercise moving from assessment- to improvement stage discussing (draft) results (data check, understanding PI’s) exchanging best practices (presentations by peer utilities) networking

17. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 17 - Key deliverables (3) Public report shows (anonymous) key results, good practice snapshots & participants experiences for stakeholder communication, raising transparency & encouraging utilities to join

18. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 18 - Intermezzo: data confidentiality vs. transparency Why not disclosing all data in the public domain? utilities require confidentiality of data (EFQM Code of Conduct) offering a safe learning environment leads to best results (classroom) not all data relevant for all stakeholders (information pyramid) too detailed information: loss of overview, risk of misinterpretation challenge: providing the relevant information to different stakeholders

19. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 19 - The Information Pyramid

20. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 20 - over 120 different utilities from Europe and beyond (EU: 15% of population) EBC’s utility network

21. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 21 - EBC’s utility network (2) EU: in total about 70.000 utilities at present only “frontrunners” participate in EBC programme the larger the network, the more to learn from challenges to further increase participation:  language barriers  large performance differences  cost barriers  how to reach smaller utilities?

22. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 22 - EBC’s utility network (3) EBC Found. W. EUR RSBSRBUA... ROBG... … IBNet strategy: changing from one single programme to network / hub structure to meet demand for regional benchmarking local ownership through national water utility associations EBC facilitates methodology, training, joint IT-platform

23. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 23 - 2014: start of first hubs in Central/Eastern Europe under Danube Water Program World Bank/IAWD-led capacity building programme for WSS-sector in Danube region (2013 – 2015) EBC’s utility network (3)

24. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 24 - 4 regional benchmarking programmes:  Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia  Albania, Kosovo  Bulgaria  Ukraine standardised methodology & room for local customisation opportunities to exchange results / good practices between different benchmarking networks includes data exchange with stakeholders like World Bank (IBNET), authorities & national associations (DANUBIS) Enlarging the network (3)

25. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 25 - Conclusions after 7 years of EBC benchmarking is not an easy job – but efforts clearly pay off benchmarking by the industry itself best motivates utility management to improve the service clear demand for coordinating/facilitating role by the national water utility associations EBC’s new hub concept:  enables local ownership ánd learning from best practices in a wider network  keeps the network manageable & sustainable

26. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 26 - EBC Foundation: quality based, proven track record in water utility benchmarking large, European wide network of utilities and stakeholders EIP Water AG - available as a partner for the European Commission and other stakeholders for a dialogue on transparency & benchmarking water quality and quality of water services Conclusions in Right2Water context

27. 9 September 2014Improving water services by learning from peer utilities- 27 - Thank you for your attention! EBC Foundation Peter Dane peter.dane@waterbenchmark.org www.waterbenchmark.org