LAUSR

International benchmarking procedures are useful and effective tools to assess the performance of wastewater services. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are large resource consumers and are perceived as a promising effort to detain the global resources crisis through sustainable action. The economics of wastewater management and treatment is the subject of growing interest to protect the environment from the adverse effects. According to international water bodies, the challenges facing the governments are rapid population growth, worsening of the climate, severity of freshwater scarcity, rising costs, aging infrastructure, increasingly stringent regulatory requirements, and a rapidly changing workforce, varying influent due to storm water, etc. are global challenges. In this study, wastewater collection, treatment and discharge related to Tubli sewage treatment plant at Tubli Water Pollution Control Center were analyzed with the aim of developing key performance indicators, which are used for benchmarking purposes. This analysis helps improving the understanding of how individual scores of efficiency and operating variables are related. The study describes the development of a benchmark for the evaluation of control strategies in WWTPs. This study is intended to be useful to decision-makers in the wastewater treatment sector. The benchmarking methodology and empirical application developed by performance indicators (PIs) for wastewater services published by International Water Association (IWA) is used for improving the management of WWTPs and contribute to save operational costs. The study assessed the benchmarking of the wastewater services in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Performance assessment and benchmarking have developed as key aspects of WWTP management. Benchmarking is a data-driven process, and can only be successful if careful consideration is given to data availability and accuracy. Four teams have contributed to the development of the benchmark and have obtained results. The only data readily available and accurate are supplied for regulatory purposes. There are 184 PIs detailed by IWA. In the study 25 PIs were analyzed for the year 2017 where the data are readily available. The results indicated that, without sufficient data, assessing the accuracy of the data and identifying comparable WWTPs, the PIs analysis becomes increasingly complex. Improved data management practices can be achieved through WWTP benchmarking. Enabling the successful benchmarking in the present-day can (i) accelerate the improvement of data collection practices, (ii) improve WWTP management practices and (iii) lead the way to the inclusion of more advanced benchmarking applications in the years to come, when data availability and accuracy issues are corrected. Optimizing the investments and developing regional experiences are key factors to promote the scientific research.