WOP between COWD, Cagayan de Oro, Philippines and MWSI, Quezon City, Philippines

In 2014, with assistance from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Water Security for Resilient Economic Growth and Stability (Be Secure) project, Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) engaged in a water operator partnership (WOP) with Cagayan do Oro Water District (COWD) to develop the capacity of COWD in the creation of a hydraulic model, the design of a pressure management program, and an introduction to the development of a Geographic Information System (GIS). Over the 12-month partnership, Maynilad guided COWD in developing a calibrated hydraulic model for a pilot site, Barangay Camaman-an, allowing it to better understand the behavior of the water system in the area, implement pressure management techniques thereby optimizing the current network and operations, and provide better water services to customers. Although a 24/7 water supply was not achieved in Barangay Camaman-an, there was an increase in the number of supply hours from four (4) to eight (8) hours a day. Moreover, armed with a better understanding of the value of a GIS in improving operational efficiency, COWD has called for an international tender for the creation of a GIS for its service area, as part of its scale-up activities.