Cover photos Upper left: Leakage survey around 1949, Nagoya City Waterworks and Sewerage Bureau. Upper right: Construction site of water distribution pipe in 1912, Nagoya City Waterworks and Sewerage Bureau. Bottom left: Carrying water before the development of water supply, Susumu Hani, the film “Water in Our Life,” Iwanami Productions, 1952. Lower middle: Water tanker for the drought of 1978, Fukuoka City Waterworks Bureau. Bottom right: Ogouchi Dam without water during drought of 1964, Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Japan's Experiences on Water Supply Development March 2017 Japan International Cooperation Agency Water Partners Jp Co., Ltd. Nihon Suido Consultants Co., Ltd. Preface Access to safe water is an essential part of human rights and the foundation for a healthy life. However, even today, the world witnesses many instances of people lacking access to this essential commodity. To counter this situation, a new global agenda - the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - was unanimously adopted by the member states of the United Nations in 2015. The agenda included a dedicated goal on water (Goal 6) that aims to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” Target 6.1 of Goal 6 estimates that “by 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all.” Japan has been contributing for years to the development of the water supply sector. When Japan started to construct modern water supply systems, it faced vast challenges with regard to expansion of service coverage and improvement of service quality, as is the case in most developing countries. However, it overcame these challenges with the help of proactive efforts, including the introduction of the overseas technology, and achieved the objective of nationwide coverage of safe water supply. These experiences contain useful lessons for developing countries. The Development Cooperation Charter decided by the Cabinet in 2015, the foundation of Japan’s Official Development Assistance policy, contains the philosophy, which would help in addressing development challenges facing the world today by utilizing such experience and expertise. However, it is not enough to merely introduce Japan’s experiences to the world. They should be sorted out and analyzed, keeping in mind the SDGs and the current challenges encountered by developing countries. Therefore, this study investigated Japan’s historical efforts in the form of acquiring a wealth of experiences in the sphere of water supply and compiling textbooks for the concerned people in developing countries who are facing challenges of service expansion and service quality improvement, and also for the people in the domain of development cooperation. Japan has attached importance to safe water supply in the interest of public health since 1887 when the first modern water supply system began its operation in Yokohama City. Afterward, Japan faced many difficulties such as the catastrophic World War II damage inflicted on the facilities and consequent high rate of leakage, and skyrocketing demand and water pollution during the high economic growth period, but successfully surmounted them to provide nationwide and equitable access to safe water around the clock. The crucial elements in this success include many characteristics of Japan’s waterworks such as the legal and administrative systems, the regulatory framework of the government, collaboration among water supply utilities centered around the Japan Water Works Association, the financing mechanism such as municipal bond to cover capital investment, sound financial management by the public enterprise accounting system and the self-supporting accounting system based on tariff revenue, and the regard for customer service. It should be also noted that officials of the water supply utilities are continue to improve the services they offer with a sense of responsibility and ingenuity. These characteristics will undoubtedly serve as a useful reference for developing countries. However, this study is aimed at bringing their issues to light, and not at transferring Japan’s experiences to the developing countries. This work was supported by advisors Prof. Yasumoto Magara - Japan Small Scale Water Works Association, and Mr. Ikuo Mitake - the Japan Water Works Association. Editorial supervisors Prof. Satoshi Takizawa - the University of Tokyo, and former Senior Advisor Keiko Yamamoto - Japan International Cooperation Agency also provided support. The study was also aided by a wide range of people concerned about Japan’s water supply sector who contributed by way of providing reference materials and interviews. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to all of them. I hope this study will contribute to the improvement of water supply in developing countries. March 2017 Kunihiro Yamauchi Director General Global Environment Department Japan International Cooperation Agency Japan's Experiences on Water Supply Development i Table of Contents Texts Japan's Experiences on Water Supply Development: Overview……………………………...I1-1 Theme 1. Sector Governance and Regulation for Nationwide Full Coverage of Water Supply Service…………………………………………………………………………….T1-1 Theme 2. Water Supply System: from Water Resources to Distribution……………………..T2-1 Theme 3. Water Quality Management………………………………………………………..T3-1 Theme 4. Operation and Maintenance of Facilities…………………………………………..T4-1 Theme 5. Reducing Non-Revenue Water…………………………………………………….T5-1 Theme 6. Financial Management: Finance and Tariffs………………………………………T6-1 Theme 7. Institutional Management: Governance, Human Resources Development, Consolidation of Water Utilities, Public-Private Partnerships……………………T7-1 Case Study 1. Collaboration among Water Utilities: Japan Water Works Association………C1-1 Case Study 2. Water Resources Development: Yodo River System, Okinawa Prefecture and Fukuoka City……………………………………………………………………..C2-1 Case Study 3. Sustainable Groundwater Use and Prevention of Land Subsidence: Osaka City and Saitama Prefecture…………………………………………………………...C3-1 Case Study 4. Block Distribution System for Equitable, Efficient and Resilient Distribution :Yokohama City and Fukuoka City…………………………………C4-1 Case Study 5. Water Tariff Design with Understanding of Customers: Kyoto City…………C5-1 Case Study 6. Water Supply Service with Customers’ Voices: Osaka City, Tokyo Metropolitan, Chiba Prefecture, Yahaba Town…………………………………………………..C6-1 Slides Japan's Experiences on Water Supply Development: Overview……………………………...I1-1 Theme 1. Sector Governance and Regulation for Nationwide Full Coverage of Water Supply Service…………………………………………………………………………….T1-1 Theme 2. Water Supply System: from Water Resources to Distribution……………………..T2-1 Theme 3. Water Quality Management………………………………………………………..T3-1 Theme 4. Operation and Maintenance of Facilities…………………………………………..T4-1 Theme 5. Reducing Non-Revenue Water…………………………………………………….T5-1 Theme 6. Financial Management: Finance and Tariffs………………………………………T6-1 Theme 7. Institutional Management: Governance, Human Resources Development, ii Japan's Experiences on Water Supply Development Consolidation of Water Utilities, Public-Private Partnerships……………………T7-1 Case Study 1. Collaboration among Water Utilities: Japan Water Works Association………C1-1 Case Study 2. Water Resources Development: Yodo River System, Okinawa Prefecture and Fukuoka City……………………………………………………………………..C2-1 Case Study 3. Sustainable Groundwater Use and Prevention of Land Subsidence: Osaka City and Saitama Prefecture…………………………………………………………...C3-1 Case Study 4. Block Distribution System for Equitable, Efficient and Resilient Distribution :Yokohama City and Fukuoka City…………………………………C4-1 Case Study 5. Water Tariff Design with Understanding of Customers: Kyoto City…………C5-1 Case Study 6. Water Supply Service with Customers’ Voices: Osaka City, Tokyo Metropolitan, Chiba Prefecture, Yahaba Town…………………………………………………..C6-1 Appendices List of Terminology……………………………………………………………………………A-1 Chronological Table…………………………………………………………………………...A-3 Water Supply Act and Local Public Enterprise Act…………………………………………...A-5 Japan's Experiences on Water Supply Development I1-i Japan's Experiences on Water Supply Development: Overview Contents 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... I1-1 2. Goal 6 of SDGs and Japan's Experiences .............................................................................. I1-2 3. Universal and Equitable Access ............................................................................................ I 1 - 4 (1) Reducing Incidence of Waterborne Diseases and Emergence of Modern Urban Water Supply System ....................................................................................................................... I1-4 (2) Development of Nationwide Water Supply System ........................................................ I1-5 4. Safe Drinking Water .............................................................................................................. I1-7 (1) Water Quality Standards and Facilities Standards under the Water Supply Act .............. I1-7 (2) Chlorination ..................................................................................................................... I1-8 (3) Quality Management of Materials and Equipment .......................................................... I1-8 5. Sustainable Water Resources Management ........................................................................