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Smart and reliable water and wastewater infrastructure systems for our future cities in India and Germany

Evaluation of measures

For planning and design of water and wastewater infrastructure, it is essential to have a set of evaluation criteria based on which the decision makers would select the particular plan from among the many alternatives that may be available. The evaluation criteria can also be used for assessing the state of performance of an existing system. In the early days, most of the decisions were made based only on the cost, as long as the plan proposal satisfied the boundary conditions i.e., constraints in the design and operation. However, in the recent years, the need for adapting to changed conditions, need for improvement in the performance and the realization that different components of an urban water infrastructure should be planned and designed in an integrated way are driving the utility companies to take decisions based on multiple criteria, besides the cost. Consequently, the process of making decisions based on multiple criteria has become complex and involved. In the above context, a report has been prepared which discusses the recent literature on evaluation in urban water management, guidelines followed in Germany and current practice in India. Based on the above, the report proposed the evaluation criteria for (i) water supply schemes, (ii) domestic wastewater systems (also commonly referred to as underground drainage (UGD) systems and (iii) storm drainage systems. These evaluation criteria will be further refined / simplified so that they are practicable for the field conditions prevailing in India and Germany.