Management of Water Utilities – Case Studies from the Arab Region
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FOREWORD BY ACWUA The water sector in the Arab region suers from chronic problems and faces many challenges in terms of water supply and sanitation services. These challenges are common in most of the Arab countries and are summarized in water scarcity; increasing demand due to growing populations and conicts; rapid urbanization; water pollution/water quality; limited access to drinking water & sanitation services in rural areas; lack of funding resources; ineective water pricing and lack of cost recovery and asset management applications. Consequently, there is room for substantial improvements in terms of administrative procedures, water policies, laws and legislations, as well as technical capacity. Herein arises the role of the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association (ACWUA) and other community-based organizations, in raising awareness at all levels within utilities, especially at the top and middle management levels that have the direct inuence over decision makers, in emphasizing the need for development of new policies, and the amendment of existing legislations that would encourage the development of utility management approaches and techniques, which in turn lead to performance improvements and better Water Supply and Sanitation (WSS) Services. According to its mandate, ACWUA is playing a fundamental role in promoting and disseminating best practices in water utility management in the Arab world. Through the initiation of the (Utilities Management) Technical Working Group (TWG), ACWUA introduced dierent Utilities’ Management topics (that were set according to utility members’ needs) for research and discussion: Cost Recovery, Non-revenue Water, Water for the Poor, Energy E ciency, and Asset Management—among others. Throughout the last two years, the Utilities Management TWG members met twice annually to share their countries’ experiences, exchange knowledge in the form of case studies, and discuss potential aspects of utility management accordingly. This publication includes the results of these meetings, where all case studies are produced in a very informative and professional manner, to present a valuable reference about the management of water utilities in the Arab Countries. These group meetings and all their associated activities were nancially supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) within a two-year support project. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the authors of this publication, our committed TWG members who showed real dedication to this project and contributed with their expertise to bring out this honorable work. I would like also to thank the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) for supporting the production of this publication. Last but not least, I would like to thank ACWUA Secretariat team and the TWG advisory team from (ECO Consult) for their eorts throughout the two-year working period of the TWG up till the point this publication became available to serve the water and sanitation sector in the region. Sincerely Yours, Eng. Khaldon Khashman Secretary General COn t En t s FOREWORD BY ACWUA COn t En t s IntRODUCtIOn 1 Background and Overview 1 Management of WSS Services in the MENA Region - the Need for Improvement 1 This Publication 2 MOROCCO 3 Acronyms 4 Introduction 5 Country Background 5 Sector Overview 8 Specic Utilities Management Issues 16 Applied Taris for Water Supply and Sanitation Services 16 Non-Revenue Water 17 Energy Eciency 17 Asset and Maintenance Management 18 Conclusion 19 References 20 Mauriaia 21 Acronyms 22 Introduction 23 Country Background 23 Sector Overview 24 Specic Utilities Management Issues 25 Applied Tari of Water and Sanitation Services 25 Non-Revenue Water 26 Asset and Maintenance Management 26 References 27 Algeria 29 Acronyms 30 Introduction 31 Country Background 31 Sector Overview 33 Specic Utilities Management Issues 34 Introduction 34 Applied Tari for Water and Sanitation Services 34 Non-Revenue Water 35 Serving the Underprivileged 36 Energy Eciency 36 Asset and Maintenance Management 36 References 37 tUnIsIA 39 Acronyms 40 Introduction 41 Country Background 41 Sector Overview 42 Specic Utilities Management Issues 45 Applied Water Taris 45 Non – Revenue Water 45 Energy Eciency 46 References 47 EGYPt 49 Acronyms 50 Introduction 51 Country Background 51 Sector Overview 52 Specic Technical asecpts of Cairo Water Company Management 54 Applied Tari 55 Cost Recovery 55 Non-Revenue Water 55 Energy Eciency 56 Asset and Maintenance Management 56 Various initiatives 56 Serving the Underprivileged 57 References 58 YEMEn 59 Acronyms 60 Introduction 61 Country Background 61 Sector Overview 64 Specic Technical Aspects of Utilities Management 68 Applied Tari for Water and Sanitation Services 68 Cost Recovery 68 Non- Revenue Water 69 Water for the Poor 69 Energy Eciency 70 Asset and Maintenance Management 70 Results of the study 71 References 72 JORDAn 73 Acronyms 74 Introduction 75 Country Background 75 Sector Overview 76 Specic Utilities Management Issues 78 Non-Revenue Water 79 Serving the Underprivileged 80 Energy Eciency 80 Assets Management 80 Lessons Learned 81 References 82 PALEs t In E 83 Acronyms 84 Introduction 85 Country Background 86 Sector Overview 89 Specic Utilities Management Issues 92 Applied Tari for Water and Sanitation Services 92 Cost Recovery 93 Non Revenue Water 93 Energy Eciency 94 References 95 sYRIA 97 Acronyms 98 Introduction 99 Country Background 99 Sector Overview 102 Specic Utilities Management Issues 105 Applied Tari for Water and Sanitation Services 105 Serving the Underprivileged 105 Cost Recovery 106 Non-Revenue Water 106 Energy Eciency 108 Asset and Maintenance Management 108 Results of the study 109 References 111 LEBAnOn 113 Acronyms 114 Introduction 115 Country Background 115 Sector Overview 116 Specic Utility Management Issues 119 Level of Service Coverage 119 Applied Tari for Water and Sanitation Services 119 Non-Revenue Water 120 Cost Recovery 120 Study results 121 References 122 6 IntRODUCtIOn Backgroud ad Overview Since inception, the Arab Countries Water Utilities Association’s (ACWUA’s) role and mandate has been set to serve its constituency in upgrading their competences by improving their performance in the delivery of water supply and sanitation (WSS) services. In accordance with this role and mandate, ACWUA adopted a leading role in the region in presenting and examining approaches to improve the e ciency of the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) systems and standards, to implement reform and restructuring initiatives to improve operational performance, to extend services, to advance management systems, and nally to exchange expertise in developing operation and maintenance procedures and applications. Bearing this in mind, ACWUA recognized the need for setting the required technical, administrative, legal, scientic and economic frameworks that are necessary to enhance the performance of utilities and service delivery. Accordingly, ACWUA initiated interdisciplinary Technical Working Groups (TWGs) comprising qualied experts from ACWUA member utilities to address specic utility issues in dierent high priority areas in the water and sanitation sector. Those areas were identied by the association through carrying out a needs assessment or its member utilities. To this end, ACWUA obtained the necessary funding to launch and activate the Utilities Management (UM) TWG from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The UM TWG comprised ten members representing ten dierent ACWUA utilities and their respective countries working together for a two-year period of engagement in the TWG. The TWG members met twice to three times annually to design a work plan and schedule; design the outlines for the nal deliverables of their work; present their respective experiences in managing WSS services; exchange knowledge in that respect regionally; and present a future outlook that would serve ACWUA in further identifying improvement opportunities in the WSS sector regionally. The UM TWG relied primarily on its members’ expertise in the management of utilities in their respective organizations and countries, and complemented those competencies through information gathering and stakeholder consultation. The TWG members also participated in international and regional conferences presenting their experiences and reaching out to other WSS professionals and experts. Management of WSS Services in the MENA Region - the Need for Improvement A bird’s eye view of WSS services in the MENA countries reveals several regionally common characteristics. Most of the Arab region is faced with acute water shortages that put tremendous pressure on utilities to develop and sustain adequate water supplies to meet the existing demand. Population growth, economic development activities and urbanization are directly impacting the demand for such services, and resulting in a rapidly growing demand. Further exacerbating the problem is the sectoral allocation of services based on a social viewpoint that is not completely backed by the economic viability perspective. This is manifested in mostly subsidized taris that in some cases cover O&M costs, and in other cases do not. Furthermore, developing additional WSS services adds nancial burdens on the utilities which need more government support and subsidies. And at the heart of all this lies the issue of weak state-owned utility performance and the inability to provide the level of service required by the customers. All the above