Les tendències del sector farmacèutic

La influència de la genètica en els nous tractament

Diseño de una propuesta para la regulación técnica de los servicios de agua en España

[ES] Los servicios de agua y saneamiento son un bien considerado un derecho humano por la Asamblea General de Naciones Unidas. Sin embargo, al mismo tiempo, son un monopolio natural. Es por ello que los usuarios no pueden escoger el prestador que les suministre el servicio, sino que deben conformarse con que el opere en la zona. Así, con el fin de proteger a los usuarios de las posibles prácticas monopolísticas, es necesario supervisar la calidad del servicio prestado, así como su precio a través de un marco regulatorio. Actualmente, el marco regulatorio del sector del agua español no cuenta con una ley que regule el ciclo urbano del agua a nivel nacional que provea seguridad legal a los prestadores ni homogeneice el servicio prestado. Se trata de un sector muy atomizado, con responsabilidades dispersas entre distintos organismos y niveles administrativos. La consecuencia directa es un entramado regulatorio complejo sin una autoridad clara de guie los pasos del sector. Es por ello que los distintos actores que componen el sector empiezan a demandar una reforma que englobe sus necesidades y permita superar con éxito los retos a los que se enfrenta el sector. El propósito de esta tesis es concretar una serie de propuestas técnicas a medida para el sector del agua español que promueva la voluntad de la administración y las partes interesadas para dar el paso de reformar el sector. Para ello, se parte del estudio de los diversos métodos regulatorios y herramientas existentes, con el fin de evaluar su aplicación en los distintos marcos regulatorios internacionales y analizar cuáles serían de aplicabilidad al caso español. Tras dicho análisis, se concluye que se requieren nuevas herramientas para regular el sector con éxito. Por ello, se han diseñado una serie de metodologías basadas en la evaluación del desempeño de los servicios de agua. Éstas permiten una adecuada comparación e interpretación de los resultados obtenidos por los operadores con el fin de posibilitar una regulación económica y de la calidad del servicio que sea justa para todas las partes implicadas. Asimismo, fomentan la transparencia, la eficiencia, la mejora continua del sector y su sostenibilidad. Para finalizar, se detallan una serie de directrices técnicas que tratan los diversos aspectos a tener en cuenta al implementar un regulador en España, como son: las características que debería reunir y los aspectos a regular, la articulación de la regulación de la calidad del servicio y la regulación económica o cómo financiar e implementar dicho organismo. La principal novedad de estas propuestas de regulación es que están enfocadas de forma técnica, evitando la perspectiva económica con la que generalmente se diseñan los marcos regulatorios. De este modo, se garantiza que los usuarios reciban un servicio de calidad al mejor precio, preservando el derecho humano al agua.[CA] Els serveis d'aigua i sanejament són un bé considerat un dret humà per l'Assemblea General de Nacions Unides. No obstant això, al mateix temps, són un monopoli natural. Per aquesta raó, els usuaris no poden escollir el prestador que els subministra el servei, sinó que s'han de conformar amb el que treballe en la seua zona. Així, amb la fi de protegir als usuaris de les possibles pràctiques monopolístiques, cal supervisar la qualitat del servei prestat, així com el ser preu mitjançant un marc regulador. Actualment, el marc regulador del sector de l'aigua espanyol no compta amb una llei a nivell nacional que regule el cicle urbà de l'aigua, que proporcione seguretat legal als prestadors dels serveis i homogeneïtze el servei prestat. Es tracta d'un servei molt atomitzat, amb responsabilitats disperses entre diversos organismes i nivells administratius. La conseqüència directa és un entramat regulador complexe sense una autoritat clara que guie les passes del sector. Per aquesta raó, els distints actors que formen part del sector comencen a demandar una reforma d'aquest marc, de forma que s'engloben les seues necessitats i els permeta superar amb èxit els reptes als que s'enfronta el sector. El propòsit d'aquesta tesi es concretar una proposta tècnica a mesura per al sector de l'aigua espanyol, que fomente la voluntat de l'administració i les parts interessades per a donar el pas de reformar el sector. Així, es parteix de l'estudi dels diversos mètodes reguladors i ferramentes existents, amb la fi d'avaluar la seua aplicació en els distints marcs reguladors internacionals i analitzar quines serien d'aplicabilitat al cas espanyol. Després d'aquest anàlisi, es conclou que es requereixen noves ferramentes per a regular el sector amb èxit. Per això, s'han dissenyat una serie de metodologies basades en l'avaluació del rendiment dels serveis d'aigua. Aquestes permeten una adequada comparació e interpretació dels resultats obtinguts pels operadors amb la fi de possibilitar una regulació econòmica i de la qualitat del servei, que siga justa per a totes les parts implicades. A més, fomenten la transparència, l'eficiència, la millora continua del sector i la seua sostenibilitat. Per a finalitzar, es detallen una serie de directrius tècniques que tracten els diversos aspectes a considerar a l'implementar un regulador en Espanya, com són: les característiques que deuria reunir i els aspectes a regular, l'articulació de la regulació de la qualitat del servei i la regulació econòmica, o seu finançament i implementació. La principal novetat d'aquestes propostes reguladores és que estan enfocades de forma tècnica, evitant la perspectiva econòmica amb la que generalment es dissenyen els marcs reguladors. D'aquesta forma, es garantisca que els usuaris reben un servei de qualitat al millor preu, preservant el dret humà a l'aigua.[EN] Access to Water services and sanitation are considered a human right by the United Nations. However, simultaneously, they are a natural monopoly which means that users cannot choose the utility. They will receive the services from the utility operating in that particular area, regardless its cost and quality of the services provided. Therefore, regulatory frameworks emerge with the aim of protecting customers from the possible monopolistic practices, supervising the quality of the service provided and the cost of the services. The Spanish water sector is very fragmented, with responsibilities dispersed among different agencies and administrative levels. In fact, the regulatory framework does not count with a law that regulates the urban water cycle, provides legal security to utilities and homogenizes the level of the service provided at a national level. The direct consequence is a complex regulatory framework without a clear authority to guide the steps of the sector. For that reason, the different stakeholders in the water sector request a reform in the regulatory framework that encompasses their needs and allows them to successfully overcome the challenges the sector is facing. The purpose of this thesis is to specify a series of technical proposals designed for the Spanish water sector in order to promote the determination of the government and the stakeholders to take a step forward and reform the sector. This work starts studying the existing regulatory methods and tools with the aim of evaluating their application in the different international regulatory frameworks and analyse their applicability into the Spanish case. This study concludes that new tools are required to regulate the sector successfully. Therefore, a series of methodologies have been designed, based on the performance assessment of utilities and enabling an adequate comparison and interpretation of the utilities' results. They have been created with the aim to allow for an economic and quality of the service regulation fair for all stakeholders. These methods are based in transparency and promote efficiency, continuous improvement of the sector and its sustainability. Finally, a series of technical guidelines are detailed with the aim to address the aspects to take into account when implementing a new regulatory framework in Spain, such as: the characteristics it should meet, the aspects to regulate, the articulation of the quality of the service and economic regulation, or how to finance and implement said body. The main novelty of his work is that it approaches regulation with a technical focus, avoiding the economic perspective with which regulatory frameworks are generally designed. In this way, it guarantees that users receive an appropriate quality of the service at the best price, preserving the human right to water.Estruch Juan, ME. (2021). Diseño de una propuesta para la regulación técnica de los servicios de agua en España [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/172222TESI

Adequacy of DEA as a regulatory tool in the water sector. The impact of data uncertainty

[EN] The regulation of water services shares many similarities with that of other utilities such as electricity or telecommunications. As a result, similar methods are often used by regulators to assess the efficiency of companies in those sectors. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is one of those widely applied methods. This paper aims to determine the adequacy of DEA as a regulatory tool for urban water services, with a special focus on the quality of the available data. In order to obtain useful conclusions, two DEA simulations were performed with audited data from 194 water utilities, officially made available by the Portuguese water regulatory authority (ERSAR). Both simulations will demonstrate that the inherent inaccuracies found in some of the key data provided by water utilities represent a significant obstacle to obtain meaningful results with the DEA technique. This could represent a paradigm shift for some of the regulatory authorities currently using DEA or similar techniques, as the complexity of the method does not seem to be justified by a better analysis of the comparative performance of the different services.Cabrera Rochera, E.; Estruch-Juan, ME.; Molinos-Senante, M. (2018). Adequacy of DEA as a regulatory tool in the water sector. The impact of data uncertainty. Environmental Science & Policy. 85:155-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2018.03.028S1551628

Coves de Santa Maira (Castell de Castells, La Marina Alta, Alacant). Campaña de 2008

Resultados de la campaña de excavación de 2008

Are Frontier Effiency Methods Adequate to Compare the Effiency of Water Utilities for Regulatory Purposes?

[EN] Frontier efficiency methods have been recurrently used in the water sector to assess the performance of water utilities. These methods are also used for yardstick regulation, with greater efficiency being sought by creating competition between the utilities, which can have an impact on decision-making processes, such as tariff setting. This study analyzes the adequacy and limitations of these methods for regulatory purposes, particularly how they deal with data uncertainty and their capacity to manage large number of variables. In order to achieve this, two representative methods¿a nonparametric technique (data envelopment analysis) and an econometric one (stochastic frontier analysis)¿are applied to an audited sample of 194 water utilities. Results will show that the results from the methods may not be considered conclusive in the water sector and their application should be carried out with considerable reservations.Estruch-Juan, E.; Cabrera Rochera, E.; Molinos-Senante, M.; Maziotis, A. (2020). Are Frontier Effiency Methods Adequate to Compare the Effiency of Water Utilities for Regulatory Purposes?. Water. 12(4):1-16. https://doi.org/10.3390/w12041046S116124Posner, R. A. (1969). Natural Monopoly and Its Regulation. Stanford Law Review, 21(3), 548. doi:10.2307/1227624Shleifer, A. (1985). A Theory of Yardstick Competition. The RAND Journal of Economics, 16(3), 319. doi:10.2307/2555560Eficiencia y su Medición en Prestadores de Servicios de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado http://hispagua.cedex.es/sites/default/files/hispagua_documento/documentacion/documentos/eficiencia_agua_potable_alcantarillado.pdfAbbott, M., & Cohen, B. (2009). Productivity and efficiency in the water industry. Utilities Policy, 17(3-4), 233-244. doi:10.1016/j.jup.2009.05.001Ferro, G., Lentini, E. J., Mercadier, A. C., & Romero, C. A. (2014). Efficiency in Brazil’s water and sanitation sector and its relationship with regional provision, property and the independence of operators. Utilities Policy, 28, 42-51. doi:10.1016/j.jup.2013.12.001Byrnes, J., Crase, L., Dollery, B., & Villano, R. (2010). The relative economic efficiency of urban water utilities in regional New South Wales and Victoria. Resource and Energy Economics, 32(3), 439-455. doi:10.1016/j.reseneeco.2009.08.001Thanassoulis, E. (2000). The use of data envelopment analysis in the regulation of UK water utilities: Water distribution. European Journal of Operational Research, 126(2), 436-453. doi:10.1016/s0377-2217(99)00303-3Pourhabib Yekta, A., Kordrostami, S., Amirteimoori, A., & Kazemi Matin, R. (2018). Data envelopment analysis with common weights: the weight restriction approach. Mathematical Sciences, 12(3), 197-203. doi:10.1007/s40096-018-0259-zDe Witte, K., & Marques, R. C. (2010). Influential observations in frontier models, a robust non-oriented approach to the water sector. Annals of Operations Research, 181(1), 377-392. doi:10.1007/s10479-010-0754-6Berg, S., & Marques, R. (2011). Quantitative studies of water and sanitation utilities: a benchmarking literature survey. Water Policy, 13(5), 591-606. doi:10.2166/wp.2011.041Worthington, A. C. (2013). A review of frontier approaches to efficiency and productivity measurement in urban water utilities. Urban Water Journal, 11(1), 55-73. doi:10.1080/1573062x.2013.765488Aigner, D., Lovell, C. A. K., & Schmidt, P. (1977). Formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models. Journal of Econometrics, 6(1), 21-37. doi:10.1016/0304-4076(77)90052-5Meeusen, W., & van Den Broeck, J. (1977). Efficiency Estimation from Cobb-Douglas Production Functions with Composed Error. International Economic Review, 18(2), 435. doi:10.2307/2525757Cullmann, A. (2010). Benchmarking and firm heterogeneity: a latent class analysis for German electricity distribution companies. Empirical Economics, 42(1), 147-169. doi:10.1007/s00181-010-0413-4Ferro, G., & Mercadier, A. C. (2016). Technical efficiency in Chile’s water and sanitation providers. Utilities Policy, 43, 97-106. doi:10.1016/j.jup.2016.04.016Saal, D. S., Parker, D., & Weyman-Jones, T. (2007). Determining the contribution of technical change, efficiency change and scale change to productivity growth in the privatized English and Welsh water and sewerage industry: 1985–2000. Journal of Productivity Analysis, 28(1-2), 127-139. doi:10.1007/s11123-007-0040-zMolinos-Senante, M., Porcher, S., & Maziotis, A. (2017). Impact of regulation on English and Welsh water-only companies: an input-distance function approach. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 24(20), 16994-17005. doi:10.1007/s11356-017-9345-2Kuosmanen, T. (2011). Stochastic Semi-Nonparametric Efficiency Analysis of Electricity Distribution Networks: Application of the StoNED Method in the Finnish Regulatory Model. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1806867Jamasb, T., Orea, L., & Pollitt, M. (2012). Estimating the marginal cost of quality improvements: The case of the UK electricity distribution companies. Energy Economics, 34(5), 1498-1506. doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2012.06.022ERSAR—Relatório Anual dos Serviços de Águas e Resíduos em Portugal http://www.esgra.pt/ersar-relatorio-anual-dos-servicos-de-aguas-e-residuos-em-portugal/Marques, R. C., Berg, S., & Yane, S. (2014). Nonparametric Benchmarking of Japanese Water Utilities: Institutional and Environmental Factors Affecting Efficiency. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 140(5), 562-571. doi:10.1061/(asce)wr.1943-5452.0000366Pinto, F. S., Costa, A. S., Figueira, J. R., & Marques, R. C. (2017). The quality of service: An overall performance assessment for water utilities. Omega, 69, 115-125. doi:10.1016/j.omega.2016.08.006Matos, R., Cardoso, A., Duarte, P., Ashley, R., Molinari, A., & Schulz, A. (2003). Performance indicators for wastewater services - towards a manual of best practice. Water Supply, 3(1-2), 365-371. doi:10.2166/ws.2003.0126Alegre, H., Baptista, J. M., Cabrera, E., Cubillo, F., Duarte, P., Hirner, W., … Parena, R. (2016). Performance Indicators for Water Supply Services: Third Edition. Water Intelligence Online, 15(0), 9781780406336-9781780406336. doi:10.2166/9781780406336Cabrera, E., Estruch-Juan, E., & Molinos-Senante, M. (2018). Adequacy of DEA as a regulatory tool in the water sector. The impact of data uncertainty. Environmental Science & Policy, 85, 155-162. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2018.03.028Molinos-Senante, M., Donoso, G., & Sala-Garrido, R. (2016). Assessing the efficiency of Chilean water and sewerage companies accounting for uncertainty. Environmental Science & Policy, 61, 116-123. doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2016.04.003Picazo-Tadeo, A. J., Sáez-Fernández, F. J., & González-Gómez, F. (2008). Does service quality matter in measuring the performance of water utilities? Utilities Policy, 16(1), 30-38. doi:10.1016/j.jup.2007.10.001Berg, S., & Lin, C. (2008). Consistency in performance rankings: the Peru water sector. Applied Economics, 40(6), 793-805. doi:10.1080/00036840600749409Ferro, G., & Romero, C. A. (2011). Setting performance standards for regulation of water services: Benchmarking Latin American utilities. Water Policy, 13(5), 607-623. doi:10.2166/wp.2011.042Molinos-Senante, M., & Maziotis, A. (2019). Productivity growth and its drivers in the Chilean water and sewerage industry: a comparison of alternative benchmarking techniques. Urban Water Journal, 16(5), 353-364. doi:10.1080/1573062x.2019.1669196Corton, M. L., & Berg, S. V. (2009). Benchmarking Central American water utilities. Utilities Policy, 17(3-4), 267-275. doi:10.1016/j.jup.2008.11.00

Topographic Energy Management in Water Distribution Systems

[EN] A significant amount of energy is required to operate pressurised water distribution systems, and therefore, improving their efficiency is crucial. Traditionally, more emphasis has been placed on operational losses (pumping inefficiencies, excess leakage or friction in pipes) than on structural (or topographic) losses, which arise because of the irregular (unchangeable) terrain on which the system is located and the network's layout. Hence, modifying the network to adopt an ecologically friendly layout is the only way to reduce structural losses. With the aim of improving the management of water distribution systems and optimising their energy use, this work audits and classifies water networks' structural losses (derived from topographic energy), which constitutes the main novelty of this paper. Energy can be recovered with PATs (pumps as turbines) or removed through PRVs (pressure reducing valves). The proposed hydraulic analysis clarifies how that energy is used and identifies the most suitable strategy for improving efficiency as locating the most suitable place to install PRVs or PATs. Two examples are discussed to illustrate the relevance of this analysis.Del Teso-March, R.; Gomez Selles, E.; Estruch-Juan, E.; Cabrera Marcet, E. (2019). Topographic Energy Management in Water Distribution Systems. Water Resources Management. 33(12):4385-4400. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-019-02375-9S438544003312Agathokleous A, Christodoulou S (2016) Vulnerability of urban water distribution networks under intermittent water supply operations. Water Resour Manag 30:4731–4750. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1450-3Cabrera E, Pardo MA, Cobacho R, Cabrera E (2010) Energy audit of water networks. J Water Resour Plan Manag 136(6):669–677. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000077Cabrera E, Gómez E, Cabrera E, Soriano J, Espert V (2015) Energy assessment of pressurized water systems. J Water Resour Plan Manag 141(8):04014095. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000494Cabrera E, Gómez E, Soriano J, del Teso R (2019) Towards eco-layouts in water distribution systems. J Water Resour Plan Manag 145(1):04018088. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0001024Castro Gama ME, Quan P, Andreja J, Chiesa C (2014) Model-based Sectorization of water distribution networks for increased energy efficiency. 11th International Conference on Hydroinformatics. HIC 2014, New York City, USACiaponi C, Creaco E (2018) Comparison of pressure-driven formulations for WDN simulation. Water 10(4):523. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040523Covelli C, Cozzolino L, Cimorelli L, Della Morte R, Pianese D (2016) Optimal location and setting of PRVs in WDS for leakage minimization. Water Resour Manag 30(5):1803–1817. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-016-1252-7Creaco E, Franchini M (2013) A new algorithm for real-time pressure control in water distribution networks. Water Supply 13(4):875–882. https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2013.074Creaco E, Pezzinga G (2018) Comparison of algorithms for the optimal location of control valves for leakage reduction in WDNs. Water 10(4):466. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040466De Paola F, Giugni M, Portolano D (2017) Pressure management through optimal location and setting of valves in water distribution networks using a music-inspired approach. Water Resour Manag 31:1517. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-017-1592-yEU (European Union) (2015) EU reference document good practices on leakage management. Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, LuxembourgFecarotta O, Aricò C, Carravetta A, Martino R, Ramos H (2014) Hydropower potential in water distribution networks: pressure control by PATs. Water Resour Manag 29:699. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-014-0836-3Giugni M, Fontana N, Ranucci A (2014) Optimal location of PRVs and turbines in water distribution systems. J Water Resour Plan Manag 140(9):06014004. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000418Lambert A, Thornton J (2012) Pressure: bursts relationships: Influence of pipe materials, validation of scheme results, and implications of extended asset life. Proc., IWA Int. Specialized Conf. Water Loss 2012, IWA, The Hague, The NetherlandsLambert A, Fantozzi M, Thornton J (2013) Practical approaches to modelling leakage and pressure management in distribution systems – progress since 2005. CCWI 12th International Conference on Computing and Control for the Water IndustryMuhammetoglu A, Nursen C, Karadirek IE, Muhammetoglu H (2017) Evaluation of performance and environmental benefits of a full-scale pump as turbine system in Antalya water distribution network. Water Supply 18(1):130–141. https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2017.087Patelis M, Kanakoudis V, Gonelas K (2017) Combining pressure management and energy recovery benefits in a water distribution system installing PATs. J Water Supply Res Technol AQUA 66(7):520–527. https://doi.org/10.2166/aqua.2017.018Saldarriaga J, Salcedo CA (2015) Determination of optimal location and settings of pressure reducing valves in water distribution networks for minimizing water losses. 13th CCWI. Procedia Engineering 119:973–983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.08.986Walski T, Bezts W, Posluszny ET, Weir M, Withman B (2006) Modeling leakage reduction through pressure control. Journal American Water Works Association 98(4):147–155. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1551-8833.2006.tb07642.

Comprehensive Regulation of Water Services. Why Quality of Service and Economic Costs Cannot be Considered Separately

[EN] Regulation in the water sector emerged as a formula to protect customers from the natural monopoly that conforms water and wastewater services. As there is little information about regulatory practices in the sector around the world, information has been collected though a survey sent to water regulators. The results of the survey provided enough information to understand how the different utilities' behaviours are regulated and the methodologies used. Among all the behaviours to be regulated, economic and quality of service regulation emerge as key aspects from a technical point of view. The first one supervises utilities' costs and tariffs while the second, the standards the service is provided. However, it has been detected that these aspects are regulated separately and the quality of service does not have an impact on economic regulation. This work quantifies the impact that the quality of services has on costs and the consequences derived from not considering it in the economic regulation. In addition, this study also lists all the different aspect of the quality of service with an impact on costs.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.Cabrera Rochera, E.; Estruch-Juan, E.; Gomez Selles, E.; Del Teso-March, R. (2022). Comprehensive Regulation of Water Services. Why Quality of Service and Economic Costs Cannot be Considered Separately. Water Resources Management. 36(9):3247-3264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-022-03198-x32473264369Anglian Water (2019a) Anglian water unveils £470 Million investment plan for east of England. Retrieved 22 Jun 2019, from https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/news/anglian-water-unveils-470-million-investment-plan-for-east-of-england/Anglian Water (2019b) Anglian water: Who we are. Retrieved 22 Jun 2019, from https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/about-us/who-we-are/Baptista JM (2014) The regulation of water and waste services, 1st edn. IWA Publishing, LondonBeecher JA, Kalmbach JA (2013) Structure, regulation, and pricing of water in the United States: a study of the Great Lakes Region. Utilities Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2012.08.002Cabrera E, Cabrera E Jr (2016) Regulation of urban water services. An overview. 1st ed. edited by E. Cabrera and E. Cabrera Jr. London: IWA PublishingCabrera E Jr (2016) The need for the regulation of water services. key factors involved. P. 218 in regulation of urban water services. An overview, edited by E. Cabrera Marcet and E. Cabrera Jr. London: IWA PublishingCabrera E Jr, Dane P, Haskins S, Theuretzbacher-Fritz H (2011) Benchmarking water services. Guiding water utilities to excellence. London, UK: IWA PublishingCONTHIDRA SL (2017) Tarifa de Precios Junio 2017. Retrieved 15 of June 2019. https://cohisa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Tarifa-Conthidra-2017.pdfDrinking Water Inspectorate (2017) DWI. Retrieved 1 Feb 2019, from http://www.dwi.gov.uk/Ferro G, Romero A (2009) Estudios de Fronteras de EficienciaGlobal Omnium (2018) El Ayuntamiento de Valencia Invierte Más de 9 Millones Para Mejorar La Calidad e Incentivar El Consumo de Agua Del Grifo Entre Los Valencianos. Retrieved 16 of May 2020, from https://actualidad.globalomnium.com/el-ayuntamiento-de-valencia-invierte-mas-de-9-millones-para-mejorar-la-calidad-e-incentivar-el-consumo-de-agua-del-grifo-entre-los-valencianos/INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística) (2020) Ganancia media anual por trabajador - Año 2019. http://www.ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htmc=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177025&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735976596. Accessed 4 Aug 2021ISO (2007) ISO 24510. Activities relating to drinking water and wastewater services — Guidelines for the assessment and for the improvement of the service to users. https://www.iso.org/standard/37246.htmlIWA (2015) The Lisbon Charter. IWA Publishing. http://www.iwa-network.org/downloads/1428787191-Lisbon_Regulators_Charter.pdfMann P (1993) Water-utility regulation: rates and cost recovery. 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Discussion of Revisiting the Resilience Index for Water Distribution Networks by Gimoon Jeong, Albert Wicaksono, and Doosun Kang

Cabrera Marcet, E.; Gomez Selles, E.; Del Teso-March, R.; Estruch-Juan, ME. (2019). Discussion of Revisiting the Resilience Index for Water Distribution Networks by Gimoon Jeong, Albert Wicaksono, and Doosun Kang. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management. 145(1):1-4. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)WR.1943-5452.0000792S14145

Improving the communication with stakeholders: the infrastructure degradation index and the infrastructure histogram

[EN] Water infrastructures are rapidly ageing without being properly replaced. Communicating the state of the network and the sector¿s needs to stakeholders is key for guaranteeing the sustainability of water and sewage systems. The infrastructure value index (IVI) is becoming a standard in the water industry as a communication tool; however, as a single value metric, it can mask key information. The complementary use of the infrastructure degradation index (IDI) and the infrastructure histogram (Hi) can provide a better understanding of the network's state while maintaining the simplicity of the analysis needed for public dissemination. The IVI is focused on the value of the infrastructure, the IDI on its median remaining life. The HI provides a detailed but simple picture of the network's remaining life, providing a clear idea of the magnitude of the investments needed in the future for maintaining the infrastructureEstruch-Juan, ME.; Cabrera Rochera, E.; Gomez Selles, E.; Del Teso-March, R. (2020). Improving the communication with stakeholders: the infrastructure degradation index and the infrastructure histogram. Water Science & Technology: Water Supply. 20(7):2762-2767. https://doi.org/10.2166/ws.2020.170S2762276720

The Mesolithic materials of the Cova del Mas del Gelat (Alcoi, l’Alcoià, Alacant)

El jaciment arqueològic de la Cova del Mas del Gelat (Alcoi, Alacant) és conegut des de fa més de trenta anys. L’estudi del sílex i de les restes faunístiques recuperades al jaciment confirmen l’existència d’un nivell mesolític. Els utensilis lítics són tècnicament semblants als d’altres estacions de la regió, i també la fauna ens ofereix informació relacionada amb la seua cronologia holocènica, evidències que amplien la nostra informació sobre el complex cultural mesolític regional. Paraules clau: Holocé. Materials mesolítics. Restes de fauna. País ValenciàThe archaeological site of the Cova del Mas del Gelat in Alcoi (Alacant, Spain) has been known for more than thirty years. The study of flint and faunal remains recovered at the site give us a cultural horizon similar to other Mesolithic sites of the region. We are dealing with lithic tools that are technically close to those from other sites of the Valencian Central region. Faunal remains offer us an interesting information related to their Holocenic chronologies as well. Furthermore, all these new pieces of evidence and the preliminary results give us some more information about the regional trend of these Mesolithic cultural complexes. Key words: Holocene. Mesolithic artifacts. Faunal remains. Valencia Region.El yacimiento arqueológico de la Cova del Mas del Gelat (Alcoi, Alacant) es conocido desde hace más de treinta años. El estudio del sílex y los restos de fauna recuperados en el yacimiento, confirman la existencia de un nivel mesolítico. Los útiles líticos son técnicamente semejantes a los de otras estaciones de la región, y también la fauna nos ofrece información relacionada con su cronología holocénica, evidencias que amplían nuestra información sobre el complejo cultural mesolítico regional. Palabras clave: Holoceno. Materiales mesolíticos. Restos de fauna. País Valencià