Water

Nonrevenue Water Management Training Course
Meeting Report

The Nonrevenue Water Management Training Course aims to build water utility capacity at top and middle management to deal with nonrevenue water reduction. This is the first of the three-part course. Overview Highlights Next Steps

EVENT DETAILS Date 11-16 May 2008 Venue Manila, Philippines Contact Paul van Klaveren Related Materials • Event details • Program • List of Participants

The 5-day course on Nonrevenue Water (NRW) Management, co-organized by ADB, Southeast Asian Water Utilities Network, South Asian Water Utilities Network, and World Bank Institute, offered a systematic program for water utilities to gain knowledge and skills in NRW reduction. This was the first of three courses supported by ADB’s Water Operators’ Partnerships (WOPs) Program.

Around 70 member utilities from SAWUN and SEAWUN from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam participated in this first session. The participants belonged to top and middle management levels to ensure a higher probability that NRW reduction best practices and internationally accepted methodology will be replicated.

The NRW course adopts a programmatic approach, with participants expected to attend succeeding, more intensive, workshops. They were given assignments to put theories into practice in their respective utilities. Submission of these assignments is required before they can participate in the second course.

On the whole, the course aimed to

• complete an NRW Self Assessment Matrix (SAM) for each utility
• prepare short and medium term targets as a basis for detailed action planning in the following courses
• develop a community of practice that will provide the foundation for information exchange amongst participating utilities, with the end view of overcoming difficulties and share experiences

Top

The course was facilitated by Mr. Roland Liemberger, a specialist on water loss assessment and loss reduction strategies. The participants learned how to

• establish a standardized water balance
• calculate water loss performance indicators to reduce commercial and physical losses
• formulate a NRW Assessment and Management Action Plan

Some of the course highlights are as follows:

• Training activities included lectures, case studies from different member utilities, group exercises, discussions and exchange of ideas among participants, and impact assessment in the form of multiple choice tests.
• Participants were also introduced to available NRW techniques and equipment.
• Field visits to the facilities of the two private concessionaires operating in Metro Manila, the Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI) and Manila Water Company, Inc. (MWCI), gave participants an acute understanding of how these utilities manage water losses.
• Presentations on the operational performance of Hai Phong Water Supply Company, MWSI, and MWCI highlighted their strategies and achievements in NRW reduction. Hai Phong and MWCI have reduced their NRW levels to 21.5% and 26% respectively, from levels beyond 60% in the last 10 years, while MWSI (which has just been turned over to new owners) is currently putting in place NRW reduction strategies with firm financial management commitment to reduce NRW which is currently at 69%.

Top

Seventy-nine percent of the participants scored more than 50% on their knowledge test, which according to Course Director Roland Liemberger is the best showing of participants among all the courses he has conducted to date.

A post evaluation revealed that most of the participants found the course highly relevant to their current function, very helpful in facilitating the exchange of experiences, and a rich source of diverse discussions on NRW management.

The next course is tentatively set for November 2008.