Analysing water use efficiency and productivity in Iran's metropolises

This study measures the water efficiency and productivity based on the data envelopment analysis (DEA) with the aim of reducing water use in metropolises. It evaluates the alternative measures of efficiency and decomposes the productivity into several components. It also analyses the correlation between the regional economic indices and water quantities. For a case of water use in Metropolitan Tehran, this study measured the efficiency on average 94% and calculated a 14% progress for the total productivity. It measured the efficiency scores for the other metropolises of Iran about 30-50% less than Tehran. This study obtained the reasonable estimates for the threshold of water use in Tehran. It presented the issues of the plans for improving water efficiency and productivity and more availability of water for the users. It demonstrated significant effects of the regional economic indices on water efficiency and productivity calculations in the metropolises of Iran.