Strengthening wastewater management in Ethiopia: from policy to practice

Opening meeting of the training at Adama Utility. Present are the heads of the utility, representatives of the Ministry of Water and Energy, employees of the utility, our partner MetaMeta and the Blue Deal team.

Growing responsibilities: how do you integrate wastewater management from scratch?

Ever since 2011, the water utilities in Ethiopia are mandated with the task to manage wastewater in the cities. Before that, they were only occupied with drinking water, from collecting to distributing. Adding wastewater to their portfolio came with a challenge. New employees had to be hired and most importantly - the grand share of income for the utilities is generated from drinking water collection. Collecting revenue from wastewater management is proven to be difficult. Nonetheless, the utilities deeply feel the necessity and do their utmost best to collect dirty water and discharge it in the safest way possible.

In order to support the utilities, the Blue Deal Wastewater focuses on governance and awareness, data and information management, technical and operational solutions, and knowledge exchange between actors in wastewater management in Ethiopia. Through a variety of activities like truck operation trainings, creating shit flow diagrams, knowledge exchange visits, trainings on water quality monitoring and more the utilities are strengthened to execute their tasks. In February of this year, we worked on two important aspects: Asset management and Treatment Plants.

Asset management through mWater

Delving into the app mWater, which can be used on mobile phone to create an overview of all the assets.

Knowing which infrastructure, property and issues you have to take care of as a utility is of great importance. These ’things’ are called assets. And taking care of it is called asset management. Right now, the utilities do not have a full overview of which assets they have to take care of. UNICEF offers a wonderful open-resource tool to map assets and create reports on where maintenance is needed: mWater. During the lasts visits we focussed on the usage of mWater and how the utility can benefit from improved asset management. Moreover, we worked on the integration of this useful tool with the Water Utility Management Information System (WUMIS) from the ministry, in which the utilities are managing all aspects related their operations (HR, Finances, Assets and more). The two systems complement each other wonderfully because of the practical orientation and more available mapping options of mWater. After the provided trainings, all assets are being mapped currently, and the utilities are preparing for the next step – creating reports and long-term maintenance plans by using the collected data.

Faecal Sludge Treatment Plants

An important asset that will be added to the portfolio of the utilities are Feacel Sludge Treatment Plants (FSTPs), where the collected wastewater will be purified), in multiple cities throughout Ethiopia these plants will be built, and the utilities are mandated to operate them. Together with the utilities, the Blue Deal Wastewater assesses the design plants and all practicalities to assist our partners in preparing for the new treatment plants. We get into the technical aspects to identify key challenges in maintenance, map opportunities and challenges in operation and which benefits and drawbacks can be anticipated for.  

Trainings in the Blue Deal

The strength of the Blue Deal is really shown by providing trainings regarding maintenance and operations. Utilities get to deal with infrastructure and tasks for which they are not always properly equipped. By providing on-the-job training and focussing on the strengths of the employees, we are able to empower the capacity which is often already there. By collaboratively connecting the dots and delving into the questions by the employees, the utilities can continue to grow.

What’s next

The coming time we will build on a maintenance plan together with the utilities, develop strategies for working with the FSTP, and other activities. Besides these topics, there will be trainings on water quality monitoring, vacuum truck management and operation and maintenance of the constructed wetlands.

Improved services will lead to a more proficient water utility, a healthier water cycle, and all in all, improved hygiene and sanitation throughout Ethiopia.

Alligning the mWater / Asstetraining with the ministry representative to integrate asset management at multiple levels and allign with the WUMIS-program of the ministry

# mWater – Asset management – FSTP – operation and maintenance – Blue Deal – wastewater – water utilities –  Ethiopia