Comparison of Tabriz Metropolitan Drinking Water Utilities with Water Utilities in the United States by using Performance Method

Nowadays the proficient maintenance of water network infrastructure is vital in sustainable urban development and is among the obligations of urban management which should be considered by responsible organizations. Accordingly, in this paper, by using the performance benchmarking method, Tabriz water utility was compared in graph basis to seven US water utility infrastructures based on the main indicators including: 1. Water resources, 2. Personnel information, 3. Physical components, 4. Service quality, 5. Executive performance, 6. Customer Services, and 7. Financial performance. The results showed that in comparison, Tabriz water utility suffers from major problems in terms of uncontrolled use of water resources in Tabriz city, high quantity of water loss, absence of wastewater recycling, erosion in network and water reservoirs in some areas, increased water demand due to the construction of new townships, and lack of adequate funding for network development. Accordingly, funds and investments are required to prevent the consequences of the aforementioned issues based on the proposed methodology. This methodology is found to be a very effective tool for decision makers and experts and can be applied for other cities and regions..