Proposed Framework of Performance Indicators for Evaluation of Sewerage Services: A Case Study of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Abstract

Objectives : The objective of this study was to develop the performance indicators (PIs) framework for the assessment of sewerage services, especially focused on the case of the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG).Methods : For the prioritization of each indicator, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was employed to obtain the weights of individual performance ratings, and hence the survey questionnaire asking to make pairwise comparisons between two alternatives at each level was distributed to the experts in field of sewerage services. A total of fifty-six experts responded to the survey, and based on their decision-making, the relative importance of criteria and alternatives were calculated.Results and Discussion : The PI framework developed in this study consists of three hierarchical structures with levels 1 to 3, in which level 1 indicates three goals of the sewerage services, level 2 contains ten performance indicators, and level 3 includes twenty technical performance indicators. Of the framework, especially, the 10 PIs in the level 2 are designed to be open to the public after converting them into the grades. Of level 1, the water environmental soundness showed 62% of the entire weights was found to be the most prioritized objective, followed by the sewer service sustainability (27%) and the customer compliance to policy (11%), respectively. Of 10 PIs in level 2, ‘No odor sewerage system’ and ‘No flooding sewerage system’ were the two most weighted indicators.Conclusions : The proposed PIs framework is expected to provide an insight to develop the project of 2040 master plan for sewage and drainage system of the SMG. Although the scope of the study is in particular limited to the case of the SMG, this PI framework can be replicated in any local government with modified adaptation.