Operation and maintenance of urban water supply and sanitation systems : a guide for managers

This publication describes a systems approach to the operation and maintenance of urban drinking-water and sanitation services. It outlines the priority programmes, projects and responsibilities of managers at different levels, with particular emphasis on controlling losses. The publication contains five parts. The first part describes how the management systems approach can help solve operation and maintenance problems. It explains what an operational system is, how it works and what subsystems it includes. Part 2 describes the operation and maintenance functions of different management levels, activities and factors which can help in the formulation of personnel requirements. The third section defines the priority responsibilities of operation and maintenance managers. In part 4, the conceptual framework, methodology, centres of decision and basic indicators for the development of management information systems and decision support systems for operation and maintenance are introduced. It also suggests techniques for measuring effectiveness of programmes by using performance indicators. The final part outlines how to implement the procedures described in the publication.