Summative Project of Water Companies - Coursework Example

Summative Assessment Project Summative Assessment Project Water companies provide drinking water and related water waste services that may include sewage treatment. These services are offered to commercial, residential, and industrial economic sectors. They also manufacturer and supply bottled water. Privatization of water by some water industries has remained security threat in the global community. The current water companies operate on sophisticated and costly wastewater and water networks and sewage treatment plants that are been noted to consume approximately 1 to 2 percent of GDP. Water company is generally a natural monopoly that is usually operated as public service through public utility that is own by either local or national government. Notably, in some countries government regulates the water industries; however, the services of such companies are largely under private companies that are defined within a specific geographical space. Water companies are usually owned differently including by the local government, national government, private ownership, and co-operative. The local government ownership is the commonly structure of ownership known worldwide. The local governments often operate its systems through municipal companies or departments, or inter municipal companies. The local government outsourcing water management from private sectors has increase since 1990 (Pollard, 2008). In the United States, water companies are being managed by state governments that are equally operates as local government. Nonetheless, these companies are obligated to integrate water systems. In other words, they are required to supply, treat wastewater, and ensure sanitation in sewerage systems (Water quality …, 2001). Therefore, the water ownership structure must ensure that the water under supply meets water quality standards as well as the environmental standards that relate to wastewater. In the United States, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the standards set for drinking water. It standards for the pollution control have been developed jointly by the state environmental agencies and the EPA pursuant to clean water act (NATO Advanced Research …, at el., 2009). Despite the set standards and regulation set for water companies, these companies are still facing immense risks ranging from water resources management, rising cost, and changing population among others. Effective Utility Management Water and wastewater resources are facing numerous challenges across New Jersey as well as other parts of the country. The common challenges that are experienced in the state of New Jersey include increasingly stringent regulatory requirements, aging infrastructure, rising costs, rapidly changing workforce, and population changes (Pollard, 2008). Many utility manager are currently finding themselves in turning from an urgent priority to another while have others have systematically adopted effective utility management towards improving their products and services. Some of the sure ways that many managers have adopted include increased communication that aims at ensuring strong and viable utility. Effective utility management is a sure way of enhancing water and wastewater utility in line with improving their infrastructure, performance in the critical areas, as well as responding to current and future challenges (Pollard, 2008). Moreover, effective addressing of these challenges will also require collaboration between the government, Water Company, elected officials, and all other stakeholders. This collaboration or primer is an appropriate design for the water and Wastewater Company or the factious water company in NJ to systematic, practical changes towards achieving excellent utility performance since it is a perfect means of improving the management of water and wastewater. However, adoption and application of this management technique will require the expertise of experienced utility managers since they are the only ones who can identify and address the most pressing issues through a customized and incremental approach towards preventing the contemporary utility challenges and avoiding any associated risk. Risk Management and Risk Assessment Background Providing clean, safe, and affordable drinking water that is trusted by customers is an overarching goal within the water utility sector. Regardless, of the location or state upon which any water company is located or operates, the water sector has stated publicly that its obligation is to achieve minimum set quality standards in it daily operations. In other words, they have assured the consumers that they will be provided with safe water within the chemical and microbiological terms; the water has to acceptable in terms of odour, taste, and appearance. Moreover, the water supply will be reliable in terms of quantity and quality. However, the delivery of these objectives concerning the increasing customer demands and regulatory environment have led to constrains and challenges facilitated by ageing infrastructure and financial self-sufficiency (Pollard, 2008). Notably, many managers within the water industry are being influenced by the developments within the international regulatory measures and guidelines; thus, they are prompting to business wide approach in the Water Industry Risk Management (NATO Advanced Research …, at el., 2009). In other words, the internal audit functions and water quality managers within the sector are trying to address the water challenges and associated risks in the understanding of business risk. In the same sense, many international water companies have developed ‘group risk managers’ to manage customer and business risks in a single portfolio. However, the implementation of the risk management that is business wide is never straightforward; nonetheless, it will require: Framework integration for the internal risks management (from the ageing infrastructure) as well as the external risks (including actions from the competitors) to the utility; The Board level, operational staff, and executive management support including the support from the external stakeholders. Risk and management effective communication in the decision making process for both within the company and with the external stakeholders. In addition, the potential tension that looms between the commercial water business management of risks and the water industry public health goals is another risk to be managed. It is critical to note that the transition to an effective risk management philosophy in the water industry or utility sector is a factor under consideration in the World Health Organization (WHO) that has provided a guideline for the Quality of Drinking water. Therefore, any water company must ensure that it meets as set quality standards by WHO (Pollard, 2008). Thus, there is need for water companies to emphasize on the development and implementation of required water safety plans. These plans will facilitate water quality management that will provide risk frameworks and risk tools that will help them in any hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP). The HACCP approach will provide the water company with basis for prioritizing risk management measures in the water supply chain that is from the catchment to the tap. Currently, the risk management has increasingly been embedded in the utilities thereby providing a mature view of the risk analysis that has shifted from one off technique to placate regulation that provides a practical methodology that facilitates process control and optimization as well as corporate decision making that is cost effective. Despite the increasing application of this methodology, it bears significant barriers especially in the implementation of risk management in water utilities. Moreover, the category is immensely business related; thus, it has the challenge of integrating risk management due to organizational culture and vital decision-making processes. Moreover, there may be technical challenges that include selection and application tools of risk analysis. Therefore, the key difficulties organizations may face in implementing risk management include the interface management especially between high-level business plans, corporate objectives, and operational reality. There is need to review the risk tools and strategies as well as the available techniques for the risk analysis with the sector (Pollard, 2008). When selecting strategies, techniques, and tools for implementing risk management, the emphasis should be pegged on decision making especially at the corporate level (strategic), business or program level, and at the operational levels within the water utilities. Nonetheless, the discussion of strategies, tools, and techniques must be within the excursion within the management and technical environmental literature (NATO Advanced Research …, at el., 2009). Additionally, there is need for juxtaposition of these risk management aspects and making them the center of the literature in order to provide a well rounded examination of the risks and challenges. The methodology of assessing, analyzing, implementing risk management in the water company; therefore, follows the methodology below in order of priority: 1. Identify the challenge come risk 2. Defining the approach and methodology to be used in hazard identification as well as risk management 3. Identifying and documenting hazards, hazardous events, and sources fro each component 4. Estimating the risk level for the identified hazards and hazardous events 5. Evaluating the major uncertainty sources associated with the hazardous and the hazardous events after which considering actions of reducing uncertainties 6. Determining significant risks and priority documents for risk management 7. Periodical review and update the identified hazards and risk assessment towards initiating changes Risk Analysis and Decision-Making Before engaging in risk analysis, it is vital to clarify or rather define terms that will be associated with analysis. In other word, the term risk is immensely associated or accepted to cost of combination of consequences and probabilities. Nonetheless, it requires clarity in every analysis. In this case, there may be need to adopt Hrudey’s elaboration that considers risk as prediction or expectation that involves: Any agent that high possibility to cause either benefit or and harm. In this case, we may consider chemical contamination or opportunity investment Uncertainty of outcome and occurrence- expressing likely of occurrence or probability The exploration of these consideration leads to risk analysis (Pollard, 2008). However, the water company must associate risk to uncertainty; therefore, the analysis of uncertainty plays a significant in risk analyses. In additionally, there is need to consider risk within a distinct business context; thus, the same analysis must consider risk management as the total sets of constituent of socio technical decision and the staff actions towards optimizing the organization’s exposure to risk. The risk analysis in this case will be pegged on the attributes of effectively management of the water sector utilities including: Product quality: the risk analysis aims at addressing the quality related to produced water, process residual, and treated influence. These variables are expected to comply fully with regulatory as well as being reliable to the requirements and consistent to the needs of public health, customers, and ecology. Customer satisfactory: the water shall be analyzed against any risk that might hinder customers’ satisfactory (Water quality …, 2001). The water is expected to be reliable, responsive as well as affordable services with respect to explicit and customer acceptable service levels. Moreover, different customers will be interviewed to analyze the timeliness of the water supply to the customers. Moreover, the feedback of the company to the customers will analyzed pegged the customers’ emergencies and needs. Operational optimization: this risk analysis will concentrate on cost effectiveness, timeliness, reliability, and sustainability performance as well as the improvement in all facets of operation within and outside the company (NATO Advanced Research …, at el., 2009). Additionally, there shall be analysis of information and awareness of new maintenance and development of operational technology towards continual improvement. Infrastructure stability: this risk analysis aims at understanding the cost and condition of associated with critical infrastructure assets. Maintaining and enhancing conditions of all the assets in the company is vital for long-term quality operation within the acceptable risk. This also ensures that they are in line with the community, customer, and regulated service supported level consistent as well as possible life cycle cost (Pollard, 2008). The content is to be anticipated with the system liability and growth goals. If the targeted or analyzed infrastructure do not fall within a given set the standards, then they shall be considered risk. Water Resource Adequacy (Water quality …, 2001): all the water companies must ensure that water is available for its current and future customer needs. This shall follow the long term and short-term resource supply and demand analysis as well as public education and conservation (Water quality …, 2001). The explicitly in this risk analysis considers the role the managers’ operation and water availability towards providing long-term surface water and aquifer with sustainability and replenishment. All the analyses that shall fall outside the set standard shall be considered risk; therefore, adequate correction measures must be suggested according set standards and requirements. References NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Risk Management of Water Supply and Sanitation Systems Impaired by Operational Failures Natural Disasters and War Conflicts, & Hlavinek, P. (2009). Risk management of water supply and sanitation systems. Dordrecht: Springer. Pollard, S. (2008). Risk management for water and wastewater utilities. London: IWA Pub. Water quality: guidelines, standards & health: Risk assessment and management for water related infectious disease. (2001). London. Read More