Assessing the performance of urban water supply systems in providing potable water for the urban poor : the case of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Provision of adequate potable water for the urban poor is a serious problem in the developing world. There are many dimensions to be considered in assessing an urban water supply system’s performance, yet no study to date includes all these dimensions together. This paper explores all the possible dimensions of an urban water supply system by which the system’s performance can be assessed using an evaluation hierarchy of ‘principles - criteria - indicators’. The indicators are aggregated into a composite index that indicates the adequacy of the water supply system’s performance. The paper uses a case study of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to test this framework.