KPI of the Day – Utilities: # Water scarcity index
Definition
Measures the amount of available water in a given region, compared to the size of its population.
Purpose
# Water scarcity index is utilized to indicate the extent of water availability in a determined region, addressing environmental performance. This indicator is used alongside other indicators, such as the # Environmental Protection Index (# EPI), which reflects the degree of potential pressure over the water resources of a certain territory, pressure which may be caused by water consumption for business, agricultural, industrial or household purposes.
Furthermore, this KPI is applied as an indicator to identify those areas that are most prone to suffer recurrent or permanent situations of water scarcity.
Recommendations
In order to have a clear understanding of this KPI, it is relevant to define what the # Water scarcity index refers to, given that water scarcity can derive from both physical scarcity and economic water scarcity in terms of investment and management.
Some recommendations on preventing water scarcity from negatively impacting the performance of the utilities industry worldwide may include:
- Implementing corrective measures aimed at protecting water sources from pollution and contact to fonts of bacteria;
- Ensuring a constant flow of investment aimed at creating and maintaining water distribution frameworks, to foster safe water distribution;
- Designing techniques aimed at increasing the quantity of water that is purified for future reuse;
- Fostering the utilization of water conservation, in order to minimize water abstraction levels generated by industry-related needs.
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