Abstract
"The UK wastewater sector is facing increasing challenges such as regulatory pressure, population growth and climate change when making investment decisions. This has resulted in a growing demand for assessment tools that informs the selection of suitable wastewater treatment processes and technologies from the sustainability perspective. The objective of this research was to develop a sustainability assessment tool for a water company in the UK to compare wastewater treatment processes and inform its investment decisions given its unique combination of challenges and needs.
The development of the assessment tool encompassed several phases with an underlying pragmatic research paradigm. The first stage utilised an exploratory case study to understand the current decision drivers and the organisational context. The case study specifically involved a round of semi-structured interviews with stakeholders and thematic analyses. The findings then informed the methodological design of the assessment tool. A suite of assessment criteria and indicators were selected based on literature review and findings from the case study. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) was selected as the assessment methodology as it was considered suitable and useful to incorporate the Three- Pillars model of sustainability. The assessment methodology was applied to two pilot studies to test its feasibility and robustness. Once the methodology had been confirmed, the assessment methodology was built into a ‘tool’ with a user interface, culminating in a round of usability testing with end-users in the organisation to examine its overall utility and ease of use. The results of testing suggest the assessment tool is easy to use and understand and offered useful insights into the sustainability credentials of wastewater treatment alternatives. This research also proposed a provisional framework for developing a multi- criteria sustainability tool in a corporate environment, which can be extrapolated for wider applications. The research also demonstrated the significance of pragmatic research in developing a practical solution for industrial-based research whilst highlighting the potential synergy between sustainability assessment, MCDA and decision support systems. The findings and insights of this research will accelerate the practical integration of MCDA into the corporate decision-making process for performing sustainability assessments."