Performance assessment systems as a strategic tool for public policies to strengthen efficiency in water distribution services: the Portuguese experience in Algarve region

Abstract

In Portugal, high levels of non-revenue water and real losses persist in several drinking water services, affecting their economic and environmental sustainability. This challenge is particularly relevant in regions like the Algarve, in the southern region, which faces water scarcity and is heavily tourist-dependent during the summer. Therefore, better management of water resources is essential to improve the resilience of drinking water services in this region to climate change. In the Algarve region, with 19 retail water utilities, non-revenue water was highly variable (ranging from 3.9% to 57.7%, with a weighted average of 28.1% in the region), corresponding to volume of 19.8 million m³ in 2020 (ERSAR, 2021). As part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026 (RRP), an investment of 44 M€ (RE-C09-i01.01) was planned in the Regional Water Efficiency Plan for Algarve (APA; DGADR, 2020) to reduce water losses in the 19 drinking water distribution systems.