Master Water & Sanitation KPIs
Measure service, resource, environment, jobs and cost without collapsing meaning.
Define the service failure before selecting infrastructure.
Input and capacity measures are often presented as outcomes.
National averages hide low-service populations and seasonal failure.
Record state, district, city/block, village/ward or supply zone; season and date; source or asset; affected users; observed service; measurement or sample method; photo/document where safe; and uncertainty. Never imply 100-metre accuracy unless the evidence genuinely supports it.
Test the full source-to-service chain.
Indicator definitions change silently
Treat this as a hypothesis until records, field observation, seasonal evidence and credible alternatives are checked.
Denominators and missing data unclear
Treat this as a hypothesis until records, field observation, seasonal evidence and credible alternatives are checked.
No subgroup or season breakdown
Treat this as a hypothesis until records, field observation, seasonal evidence and credible alternatives are checked.
Cost and environmental effects separated
Treat this as a hypothesis until records, field observation, seasonal evidence and credible alternatives are checked.
Components that must work together.
Drinking-water safety and reliability
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Groundwater, reservoirs and ecosystems
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Sanitation, sewage and compliance
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Reuse and recovery
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Flood, drought and rain capture
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Agriculture, employment and economy
Define the responsible actor, operating standard, input, handoff, maintenance requirement, failure trigger and evidence record.
Match intervention to hydrogeology, settlement and service capacity.
Maintain an indicator dictionary and version history.
Show baseline, target, actual, source and uncertainty.
Disaggregate by place, season and affected group.
Link physical outcome to lifecycle cost and service equity.
Diagnose, protect, pilot, measure and institutionalise.
Verify & protect
Confirm the location, affected users, service chain, immediate health or safety risk, responsible agency and existing evidence.
Controlled pilot
Publish a district KPI register and independently reproduce a sample of calculations.
Durable system
Fund operations, preventive maintenance, skilled teams, monitoring, public reporting, correction pathways and independent evaluation.
Measure service and outcomes—not assets alone.
Water interventions can transfer risk across people, places and time.
- RiskDashboard gamingPrevention · accountable owner · trigger · remedy
- RiskFalse comparisonPrevention · accountable owner · trigger · remedy
- RiskSmall-area privacy breachPrevention · accountable owner · trigger · remedy