تحلیل راهبردی هوشمندسازی اندازه‌گیری مصارف آب شرب با تکیه بر کاربست سوات و فرآیند تحلیل سلسله مراتبی (مطالعه‌ی موردی: استان همدان)

Background/Objective: Water, especially potable water, is a precious commodity for humanity and plays an essential role in people's lives, from the simple fact that it makes up more than half of the human body to its use in various sectors such as health care. Health, food production, agriculture and industry. The world is increasingly looking for solutions to face problems related to water resources management, such as monitoring and controlling wastage in distribution, predicting user demand, and water quality. In this regard, the adoption of new technologies is increasing. The importance of this resource is such that it has been given sacred respect so that great efforts are made to prevent its waste. The widespread challenge of water in the Middle East region has made the political authorities there think about managing the consumption of this life liquid. Now, more than ever, the danger of water scarcity and sometimes waterlessness has been highlighted in some regions of Iran, and water has turned from an essential element for human life into a completely strategic and even security issue. The management of drinking water consumption more than at any other time in history requires the attention and care of the policymakers and rulers of the countries, because in the present era, with the explosive growth of the population and unprecedented climate change, and the occurrence of devastating droughts, the preservation and protection of drinking water has reached an emergency stage. In this regard, intelligentizing the measurement of drinking water consumption, due to its great benefits, has been placed on the agenda of many countries that are far from the challenge of water scarcity. Therefore, in our country, which is struggling with the big crisis of water stress, it is necessary to move towards intelligent measurement of drinking water consumption. The present study was carried out to identify strategies for making drinking water smarter and deciding on the best strategy in this field.
Methodology: From the point of view of the purpose of this research, it is an applied study conducted with a mixed approach (qualitative-quantitative) and as a cross-sectional study. The design of this study is a descriptive survey. The method of data collection in this study was field. In the qualitative part, the data collection tool was interviews with experts; in the quantitative part, the questionnaire was used. The validity of the interviews was obtained through triangulation of the researcher, and in its reliability evaluation, the percentage of agreement coefficient was used and the coefficient was 0.8, which finally confirmed the validity and reliability of the tool in the qualitative part. In evaluating the validity in the quantitative part of the face validity and the reliability evaluation, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used and the instrument was confirmed. In the qualitative part, by interviewing experts and using the SWOT method, strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, and threats were identified, and then their scores were obtained by forming a matrix of internal factors and a matrix of external factors. Then the matrix of internal-external factors was drawn. In the following, using the hierarchical analysis process, the evaluation of the best strategy for the implementation of the intelligentization program for the measurement of drinking water consumption was carried out. In evaluating the validity of the research tool in the implementation of the AHP method, face validity was used and in its reliability, the test-retest method was used and confirmed.
Findings: The investigation of the internal environment confirmed the identification of eight strengths and eight weaknesses. According to experts, in evaluating the priority of the strengths, the most important ones were "the presence of expert and knowledgeable human resources" and "the presence of capable and risk-taking managers in the implementation of the project" In evaluating the weaknesses, the most important of them were "the limitations of financial resources". The most important opportunities identified were "increasing efficiency and full coverage of meter readings" and "increasing the possibility of achieving financial savings" and the most important threats identified were "increasing population growth" and "drinking water shortage crises and stress". SWOT analysis led to the identification of four strategies one-time, parallel, step-by-step, and combined implementation in smartening the measurement of drinking water consumption. The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) led to the identification of the combined strategy (consisting of one-time, parallel, and step-by-step strategies) as the best strategy.
Originality/Results: The present study is the result of the original review of possible strategies for smartening drinking water consumption in Hamadan province by the authors of this article. The implementation of this study led to the identification of four strategies for the implementation of the smart water meter program in Hamadan province. Also, this research showed that the best strategy for this matter is to use a combination of one-time, parallel, and step-by-step strategies throughout the province according to the situation. It was suggested to implement and advance the program according to the number of subscriptions in each city and according to the acceptance of the program by the subscribers.