One of the priority thrusts under ADB’s Water Operational Plan 2011–2020 is increased water use efficiency in municipal water supply through aggressive reduction of nonrevenue water (NRW). Water loss or NRW is one of the main and most urgent problems for many water utilities in Asia and the Pacific. This is usually due to one or several factors: aging infrastructure, lack of holistic asset management practices, water theft, and improper accounting of water. The International Water Association (IWA) Water Balance Methodology is a recognized international best practice on identifying, measuring, and analyzing water loss. This pilot and demonstration activity (PDA) will introduce the methodology in five countries representing the five regions of ADB’s operations and promote a standardized approach to measuring NRW, increasing capacity and adoption into respective operations.
Snapshot
| Project site | Fiji, Georgia, Nepal, People’s Republic of China (PRC), and the Philippines |
| Cost | $250,000 (approximately $50,000 per country) |
| Status | Ongoing |
| Start date | February 2019 |
| Estimate completion date | January 2020 |
| ADB officer | David Fay (Fiji), Heeyoung Hong (Georgia), Shiva Prasad Paudel (Nepal), Hubert Jenny (PRC), and Marie-Helene Sibille (Philippines) |
Description
In this PDA, ADB will work with the Water Authority of Fiji, United Water Supply Company of Georgia, the Leknath Water Users and Sanitation Committee in Nepal, Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System in the Philippines, and Beijing Water Affairs Bureau in the PRC. The activities will be tailored to each water operator’s needs and levels of understanding. For example, in Fiji, this will continue the implementation of the AquaRating tool, which helped WAF move from traditional reporting to water balance reporting. In Nepal, the activity will focus on continuing the positive impact of the Water Operators Partnership initiative that led to reducing NRW of 46% to 36%.
Expected Results
At the end of this year-long PDA, the following shall have been achieved: assessment of the water operators’ current NRW management practices; basic and advanced trainings and workshops on IWA Water Balance Methodology; and development of appropriate measurement, reporting, and monitoring tools consistent with the methodology, among others. With this initiative, the operators will be able to improve their use of limited resources through more informed investment choices based on better identification of water losses and solutions.
