A new methodology for assessing water quality, based on data envelopment analysis: Application to Algerian dams.

• A new Water Quality Index is devised through a DEA-based methodology. • New input variables are defined directly from the observed data. • Water quality can be improved with reference to local water source benchmarks. • Water treatment process can be prioritized via slack analysis. • New methodology is applied on 47 dams located in the Tellian region, Algeria. The present paper aims to develop a new Water Quality Index (WQI) based on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Rather than using subjective weights of a judgmental process as inputs of the DEA model, we propose more objective variables, identified as "optimistic closeness values", appropriately derived from the observed values of the hydrochemical parameters. The proposed approach was employed to assess the water quality of 47 dams in Algeria, defined with a dataset of 10 hydrochemical parameters. The results of the DEA-based WQI application revealed that (i) 21.27%, 27.66%, 25.53%, 4.25% and 21.27% of the total dams are categorized as "Poor", "Marginal", "Medium", "Good" and "Excellent" water quality, respectively; (ii) the best water quality is found in "Kissir" and the worst one in "Bougara"; (iii) a priority scale on the hydrochemical parameters can be set for the treatment of water using the notion of slack value. Collectively, the new methodology has proven its effectiveness not only for categorizing or ranking sites based on water quality but also as an alternative tool to be used to assist decision-makers in allocating funds and managing water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]