Forging Partnerships Among Water and Wastewater Operators

Introduction

Providing access to clean water and sanitation has perennially been a tough challenge for governments globally. Although significant strides have been made over the years, there is still much room for improvement. To date, at least 1.8 billion people use drinking water sources that are fecally-contaminated and an estimated 663 million people across the globe do not have access to improved drinking water sources. Sanitation paints a bleaker picture, with an estimated 2.4 billion people needing basic sanitation services.¹

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has set lofty targets with regards to providing universal access and sanitation. Governments and water operators globally have explored nonconventional ways to try and respond to the daunting challenge set forth by the SDGs. Innovations in financing instruments, technology, knowledge partnerships and the like, have significantly contributed to speeding up improvements in coverage and levels of service.

Over the years, the definition of innovations has come to include not only those related to technology and engineering but also to skills and capacity-related interventions and those that improve enabling environments. Water utilities worldwide have come to better appreciate the value of equipping themselves and their environment with the right skills and conditions for more sustainable operations.

Infrastructure, coupled with the right capacity, in an environment that supports improvements, completes the solution puzzle towards providing a more holistic approach to water and wastewater service provision.

The Asian Development Bank's (ADB) Water Operators Partnerships (WOPs) Program is an example of an innovation focusing on building capacity of operators to complement engineering and technological advancements. This knowledge-sharing, experience-based twinning platform brings together experienced and efficient utility operators to mentor utilities (recipients) on specific aspects of their operations.

Initiated in 2007, the ADB WOPs Program has around 69 completed and ongoing partnerships in Asia and the Pacific, supporting around $2.3 billion worth of investments in water supply and sanitation.² It is a robust complement to ADB's Water Operational Plan.³ Continuously evolving to better respond to the needs of the water sector, ADB, through WOPs, contributes toward improved urban services.

This publication provides a compendium of twinning arrangements successfully formed under the WOPs Program. Country experiences from Bangladesh, Fiji, Indonesia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam are cited to highlight successful partnerships forged between local operators and recognized water utility experts in generating tangible results and significant improvements in service provision. Areas of operation covered include asset maintenance, nonrevenue water (NRW), operational efficiency, public-private partnership, and wastewater management. The examples clearly prove that the program is truly a cost-effective mechanism in building capacities and bridging the knowledge gap of water utility operators towards a more efficient and effective delivery of services to their