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AN ASSESSMENT OF WATER UTILITY INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND THEIR USE OF COMPUTERS 1
Author(s) -
Shell Richard L.,
Damachi Nicholas A.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
jawra journal of the american water resources association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.957
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1752-1688
pISSN - 1093-474X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-1688.1985.tb00143.x
Subject(s) - revenue , index (typography) , plan (archaeology) , water utility , state (computer science) , population , computer science , information system , operations research , environmental economics , business , engineering , water supply , geography , environmental engineering , economics , finance , world wide web , demography , electrical engineering , archaeology , algorithm , sociology
To provide an overview of water utility information systems and the extent of computer use, a direct mail survey of all water utilities serving populations of 2,000 or more in the tri‐state area ‐ Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky ‐ was conducted. The following was determined: 1) utility profile information, e.g., public/private ownership, age, number of accounts, etc.; 2) an assessment of the degree of computerization presently in place to perform various functions; and 3) an assessment of any plans that the utilities may have for future computerization. To analyze the data, an index of computerization was defined as the number of departments or major activity areas of each utility that presently have some computerization. The relationship between the degree of computerization (measured by this index) and a utility's profile in terms of population served, annual revenue generated, and the number of customer accounts is discussed for each state in the survey. Discriminant analysis revealed strong significant differences between utilities that plan to use computers and those that do not. The differences were identified by the authors. Survey results revealed a rather limited use of computers in the tri‐state area. Enormous potential exists in small and medium sized utilities for computerization to improve operational efficiency.