The impact of quality management tools in municipal water distributors: Case of Namibia

Michael Mutingi; Timothy Silombela; Damas Mashauri; Charles Mbohwa

The impact of quality management tools in municipal water distributors: Case of Namibia

Michael Mutingi
, Timothy Silombela
, Damas Mashauri
, Charles Mbohwa

Quality and Operations Management

Namibia University of Science and Technology
University of Johannesburg

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

Abstract

Municipalities always face the challenge of water losses (known as non-revenue water (NRW)) due to poor maintenance of water supply infrastructure. This research investigates the impact of Quality Management (QM) Tools in the maintenance function of Namibia Municipal Water Distributors. The study reveals that 18 municipalities use an average of 8 QM tools and produce an average of 23% Non-Revenue Water (NRW), which is 3% higher than the amount recommended by the International Water Association (IWA) for well managed municipalities. Only 6 out of the 18 municipalities can be classified as well managed. The study shows that the application of QM tools is still low, considering that there are over 100 available QM tools. Surprisingly, the study shows that user friendliness has little influence on tool adoption, contrary to the initial hypothesis. QM tools are adopted because they are perceived useful. It is concluded that the application of QM tools helps to reduce the generation of NRW. Furthermore, the study finds that there is a marginal negative correlation between the use of QM tools and the generation of NRW. This confirms that the application of QM tools has a positive impact on the reduction of NRW generation.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016
Publisher	IEOM Society
Pages	2188-2196
Number of pages	9
ISBN (Print)	9780985549749
Publication status	Published - 2016
Event	6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Duration: 8 Mar 2016 → 10 Mar 2016

Publication series

Name	Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management
Volume	8-10 March 2016
ISSN (Electronic)	2169-8767

Conference

Conference	6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016
Country/Territory	Malaysia
City	Kuala Lumpur
Period	8/03/16 → 10/03/16

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation

Keywords

Municipal water distribution
Namibia
Non-renevue water
Quality mangement tools

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Strategy and Management
Management Science and Operations Research
Control and Systems Engineering
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Cite this

Mutingi, M., Silombela, T., Mashauri, D., & Mbohwa, C. (2016). The impact of quality management tools in municipal water distributors: Case of Namibia. In 6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016 (pp. 2188-2196). (Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management; Vol. 8-10 March 2016). IEOM Society.

Mutingi, Michael ; Silombela, Timothy ; Mashauri, Damas et al. / The impact of quality management tools in municipal water distributors : Case of Namibia. 6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016. IEOM Society, 2016. pp. 2188-2196 (Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management).

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title = "The impact of quality management tools in municipal water distributors: Case of Namibia",

abstract = "Municipalities always face the challenge of water losses (known as non-revenue water (NRW)) due to poor maintenance of water supply infrastructure. This research investigates the impact of Quality Management (QM) Tools in the maintenance function of Namibia Municipal Water Distributors. The study reveals that 18 municipalities use an average of 8 QM tools and produce an average of 23\% Non-Revenue Water (NRW), which is 3\% higher than the amount recommended by the International Water Association (IWA) for well managed municipalities. Only 6 out of the 18 municipalities can be classified as well managed. The study shows that the application of QM tools is still low, considering that there are over 100 available QM tools. Surprisingly, the study shows that user friendliness has little influence on tool adoption, contrary to the initial hypothesis. QM tools are adopted because they are perceived useful. It is concluded that the application of QM tools helps to reduce the generation of NRW. Furthermore, the study finds that there is a marginal negative correlation between the use of QM tools and the generation of NRW. This confirms that the application of QM tools has a positive impact on the reduction of NRW generation.",

keywords = "Municipal water distribution, Namibia, Non-renevue water, Quality mangement tools",

author = "Michael Mutingi and Timothy Silombela and Damas Mashauri and Charles Mbohwa",

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Mutingi, M, Silombela, T, Mashauri, D & Mbohwa, C 2016, The impact of quality management tools in municipal water distributors: Case of Namibia. in 6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016. Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, vol. 8-10 March 2016, IEOM Society, pp. 2188-2196, 6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 8/03/16.

The impact of quality management tools in municipal water distributors: Case of Namibia. / Mutingi, Michael; Silombela, Timothy; Mashauri, Damas et al.
6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016. IEOM Society, 2016. p. 2188-2196 (Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management; Vol. 8-10 March 2016).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - The impact of quality management tools in municipal water distributors

T2 - 6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016

AU - Mutingi, Michael

AU - Silombela, Timothy

AU - Mashauri, Damas

AU - Mbohwa, Charles

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - Municipalities always face the challenge of water losses (known as non-revenue water (NRW)) due to poor maintenance of water supply infrastructure. This research investigates the impact of Quality Management (QM) Tools in the maintenance function of Namibia Municipal Water Distributors. The study reveals that 18 municipalities use an average of 8 QM tools and produce an average of 23% Non-Revenue Water (NRW), which is 3% higher than the amount recommended by the International Water Association (IWA) for well managed municipalities. Only 6 out of the 18 municipalities can be classified as well managed. The study shows that the application of QM tools is still low, considering that there are over 100 available QM tools. Surprisingly, the study shows that user friendliness has little influence on tool adoption, contrary to the initial hypothesis. QM tools are adopted because they are perceived useful. It is concluded that the application of QM tools helps to reduce the generation of NRW. Furthermore, the study finds that there is a marginal negative correlation between the use of QM tools and the generation of NRW. This confirms that the application of QM tools has a positive impact on the reduction of NRW generation.

AB - Municipalities always face the challenge of water losses (known as non-revenue water (NRW)) due to poor maintenance of water supply infrastructure. This research investigates the impact of Quality Management (QM) Tools in the maintenance function of Namibia Municipal Water Distributors. The study reveals that 18 municipalities use an average of 8 QM tools and produce an average of 23% Non-Revenue Water (NRW), which is 3% higher than the amount recommended by the International Water Association (IWA) for well managed municipalities. Only 6 out of the 18 municipalities can be classified as well managed. The study shows that the application of QM tools is still low, considering that there are over 100 available QM tools. Surprisingly, the study shows that user friendliness has little influence on tool adoption, contrary to the initial hypothesis. QM tools are adopted because they are perceived useful. It is concluded that the application of QM tools helps to reduce the generation of NRW. Furthermore, the study finds that there is a marginal negative correlation between the use of QM tools and the generation of NRW. This confirms that the application of QM tools has a positive impact on the reduction of NRW generation.

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SN - 9780985549749

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BT - 6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016

PB - IEOM Society

Y2 - 8 March 2016 through 10 March 2016

ER -

Mutingi M, Silombela T, Mashauri D, Mbohwa C. The impact of quality management tools in municipal water distributors: Case of Namibia. In 6th International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management in Kuala Lumpur, IEOM 2016. IEOM Society. 2016. p. 2188-2196. (Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management).

The impact of quality management tools in municipal water distributors: Case of Namibia

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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Cite this