World Waternet continues long-term WOPs in WaterWorX programme Phase 2

The WaterWorX programme () has the overall goal to contribute to improved water and sanitation services in selected cities around the globe. It has a long-term perspective and aims to provide either first-time basic access to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services or improved service levels for 10 million people. In Phase 1 (2017-2021), the 10 Dutch water utilities established a solid foundation of trusted Water Operators' Partnerships (WOPs) with 39 water utilities in Africa, Asia and South-America. During these first years, the WOPs focused on staff and organisational capacity development in among others leadership, revenue generation, low-income customer services provision and long-term water supply security. In addition, investments were made for network extensions and toilets, impacting 1.45 million people with first or improved access to WASH. Phase 2 (2022-2026) will further intensify knowledge management that enables current local utility partners to share their gained knowledge and experience with colleague utilities in their country and region. By the end of Phase 2, it is intended that 3,5 million people will have first or improved access to water and sanitation. World Waternet will continue into Phase 2 with five WOPs.

WOP Nairobi - Kenya

Due to rapid population growth, climate change, irrigation, groundwater abstraction and deforestation, the water supply in Nairobi is facing major challenges. The WOP between Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company (NCWSC) and World Waternet aims to increase sustainable access to drinking water and to strengthen NCWSC in order to provide reliable, good quality water and sanitation services in an environmentally friendly manner. In Phase 1, the WOP mainly focused on the reduction of non-revenue water, the setup of a commonly agreed water balance, stakeholder management and the organisational culture.  

The activities in Phase 2 will build on the successes of Phase 1, through technical assistance and mobilisation of investment for infrastructure improvements for water supply and sanitation:

• Technical assistance and investment mobilisation at water treatment plant Ng’ethu
• Technical assistance on wastewater and sanitation
• Further non-revenue water reduction through support with water balances and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping
• Setup of asset management programme

Drinking water treatment plant of NCWSC Ng'ethu 

WOP Bamako - Mali

Mali is a poor and dry country, hit hard by the effects of climate change. SOMAGEP is the public water supply company of Mali, responsible for the drinking water supply for the 90 largest cities and towns of Mali. SOMAGEP faces huge challenges in providing its customers with proper drinking water. World Waternet and SOMAGEP entered into a WOP to improve sustainable water services to the urban poor in Mali.

During the productive Phase 1 of this WOP, there was a broad focus on eight themes: organisational improvement, leadership and capacity development, non-revenue water reduction, maintenance & asset management, pro-poor water supply, climate resilience, water quality monitoring, water safety and gender. In Phase 2, World Waternet formalised the collaboration with SOMAPEP (the sister organisation of SOMAGEP and asset owner of all water infrastructure in Mali).

The main objective of Phase 2 is to further increase the capacity of SOMAPEP and SOMAGEP to provide sufficient and sustainable potable water to the people of Mali. The step-change improvements include:

• Reduction of non-revenue water
• Increase in income by improving the billing and collection system.
• Identification of external finances to support with enlarging the billable network. This will increase revenue for the utility and provide access to potable water at a social rate to those in society who currently pay highest prices.

Drinking water treatment plant of SOMAGEP in Bamako

WOP Morogoro - Tanzania

Morogoro is a rapidly growing city in the eastern part of Tanzania. To adequately serve all inhabitants, drinking water production requires expansion and the water supply network must be improved and extended. Sanitation, wastewater collection and treatment is still at a very basic level and need to be improved. MORUWASA is the water supply and sanitation authority of Morogoro. MORUWASA’s ambition is to improve the availability of reliable and sufficient water and sanitation services in Morogoro. The WOP between MORUWASA and World Waternet focuses on the rapidly expanding demand for water and accessing adequate human and financial resources for required infrastructure developments. Other focal topics include, climate proof watershed management by tree planting, cost recovery by pre-paid water ATMs and raising awareness on WASH and social inclusion in collaboration with a local NGO Kinara for Youth Foundation.

In Phase 1, World Waternet and MORUWASA developed an investment plan and long-term strategy to ensure sustainable water supply in the future. Also, improvements for climate proof watershed management  and water treatment has been identified.

In Phase 2, the WOP continues to improve the livelihood of the communities in the Morogoro urban area, by focusing on improving the delivery of water and sanitation services, with attention given to the poorest:

• Reduction of non-revenue water and cost recovery measures
• Connecting the disconnected by improving water services in low-income areas by rehabilitating water kiosks and installing pre-paid water ATMs
• Climate proof watershed management and water production by preserving water resources and catchment areas by planting trees and implementing awareness training
• Organisational development in the field of human resources, including gender equality and social inclusion and investment planning

Working on staff planning for MORUWASA

WOP Palestinian Territories

The water sector in the Palestinian Territories faces systemic challenges. The political and economic situation limits the availability and access to sufficient water resources of acceptable water quality. With more than 300 Service Providers, the water sector is very fragmented which makes sustainable, long-term water management difficult. Moreover, the Service Providers face significant problems resulting from poor infrastructure and high water losses, and insufficient revenue generation. In 1995, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) was established with the mandate to manage water resources and execute the water policy. PWA is faced with an ambitious water sector reform plan to merge 300 Service Providers into 10 regional water utilities (RWUs) in the Palestinian Territories.

PWA, World Waternet and its partners have entered into a WOP in 2020. In Phase 1, World Waternet provided support on the water sector reform, and specifically on creating successful two RWUs or Joint Service Councils for North Hebron and Salfit by information and data sharing, decreasing non-revenue water and improving cost recovery.

Phase 2 will follow up on the institutional support in regards to the water sector reform as well as the technical assistance for improving water supply and sanitation:

• Reduction of non-revenue water and cost recovery measures
• Further improvement of asset management data via data harmonization
• Peer-to-peer Geographic Information System (GIS) development
• Improvement of the accuracy of monitoring and reporting of water quality data
• ISO certification of the PWA laboratory
• Development and piloting of unique mobile wastewater treatment plants (BluElephant) within a public-private partnership of Dutch and Palestinian organizations.
• Build local capacity and create a successful regional water units (RWU) for the municipalities in North-Hebron and the Salfit area.

PWA and World Waternet during a field visit

WOP Laos

Laos faces periods of extreme flooding but also extreme drought. Throughout the year, this hampers a reliable and sustainable water supply for both its urban aand as rural inhabitants. In many regions, wastewater is not yet collection or treated. In 2017, World Waternet kicked off a long-term WOP with eight Provincial Public Water Utilities in Laos and the Laotian Ministry of Public Works and Transport (Department of Water Supply). In the first phase, the WOP focused on intensive capacity building on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), water pressure analysis, non-revenue water, asset management, water quality, customer processes and satisfaction and social inclusion assessment.

Phase 2 will kick off in 2023 due to heavy restrictions as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. The activities in Phase 2 will build on the successes of Phase 1, through further improvement of the operational performance:

• GIS-development and non-revenue water reduction
• Efficiency improvement for water treatment and water distribution
• Increase service area practices and knowledge exchange coverage and revenues
• Rural water supply
• Faecal sludge management

Measuring pH levels at drinking water treatment plant in Luang Namtha

In the coming years, the experiences in each individual WOP will be more actively shared with other WaterWorX WOPs, particularly when there are other WOPs in the same country, e.g. in Kenya and Tanzania.