Top executives from 10 water utilities in Mediterranean countries gather at the CMI to discuss water losses reduction strategies

Can a water utility separate real losses (leakages) from commercial losses (water utilized by customers but not billed) and for what purposes? Is the non-revenue water indicator (NRW), which measures physical losses but also commercial losses, a relevant tool for a water utility manager? These were some of the questions, which were discussed and debated at a regional workshop on reducing water losses held at the CMI in late January.  The World Bank and its CMI partners (AFD, EIB, Plan Bleu) organized the two-day event as part of its Water Losses Reduction Program which aims to promote efficient management of water utilities in the Mediterranean by reducing water losses, through exchanges of experiences and partnerships between utilities and stakeholders. 

In a region with an already highly developed hydraulic and water supply infrastructure, extreme water scarcity, growing urban populations and worsening impact of climate change, leading water utilities managers and a range of institutional and private actors have a lot to discuss on ways to best reduce water losses.  Indeed, figures show that the amount of water losses in MENA can sometimes reach up to half of the water produced with serious impacts on the long-term financial sustainability of the water utilities. Water losses in urban utilities in countries in North Africa and the Middle East and the Balkans are well above average, and in many cases water losses are such that the utilities can not provide 24 h/7 day a week service to the population  Recent World Bank calculations show significant differences among countries in terms of the NRW percentage ranging from 26% for Tunisia, 54% for Algeria and 30% for Morocco in the Maghreb alone, to 64% in Albania and 50% in Lebanon. Not only are high water losses detrimental for a water utility’s balance sheet but it also means water rationing and intermittent service for many ordinary citizens in the Mediterranean region. 

 More than 55 participants from 16 countries originating from the North, South and Eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, including several CEOs and directors of water utilities, participated in the workshop to reconsider the way this precious resource is delivered to consumers and ultimately accounted for.  The workshop offered an opportunity to exchange about what has worked, and what has not in terms of utility performance and management and in particular, to hear about the preliminary results of five target countries of the region (Morocco, Tunisia, Malta, Albania and Cyprus) as well as other case studies from Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Italy, Portugal, and Marseille water utility (Société des Eaux de Marseille). 

Mats Karlsson, CMI Director, opened the workshop and stressed that "reducing NRW is a complex endeavour that requires an integrated approach which deals with technical, commercial, financial and institutional issues. Setting the incentives right will be key ". One critical first step for any utility manager is to be able to deal with both physical and commercial losses, as the two are equally important for their impact on the financial viability of the utility.  “Today, says Eng. Maroun Moussallem, Director General, Bekaa Region Water Establishment, Lebanon who participated in the workshop, there are two main challenges that I have to deal with in the Bekaa region. The first one is Non-Revenue Water with leakages estimated at 50% and the second one is the high number of illegal connections to the water network. What we are doing to improve the situation is to increase the number of customers or members to lower the commercial losses and to increase the collection rate to better cover expenses. This is critical since the Bekaa Region Water Establishment is an autonomous entity that significantly relies on sales revenues to meet its costs”.   Several experiences in the region were also presented including performance under a Public-Private Partnership and under publicly managed utilities.   
   
Feedback from the workshop discussions and results of the case studies will be synthesized in a regional report and made available on the CMI website by the end of June. Looking ahead, participants including donors, water utilities and private sector representatives agreed to adopt a common framework to enable benchmarking, facilitate exchange between utilities through twinning arrangements and to prepare NRW action plans for a group of utilities that could be submitted to donors for financing.  The World Bank and its CMI partners is currently preparing a road map for a phase two program (2013-2014) based on the feedback from the utilities managers at the workshop and a regional expert task force is being set up to spearhead this effort.

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RELATED RESOURCES

• Program Agenda of January 22-23 Workshop at CMI in Marseille


• List of Participants to January 22-23 Workshop
  
  
  

CONTACTS

• In Morocco:
  Xavier Chauvot De Beauchene, Senior Water and Sanitation Specialist, World Bank
  xchauvot@worldbank.org
• 
  In Tunisia:
  Philippe Marin, Senior Water and Sanitation Specialist, World Bank 
  pmarin@worldbank.org
• 
  In Washington:
  Manuel Marino, Lead Water and Sanitation Specialist, World Bank 
  mmarino@worldbank.org
• 
  In Marseille:
  Nathalie Abu-Ata, Operations Officer, World Bank // +33 4 9199 2446 
  nabuata@worldbank.org