Following a first collaboration for 10 African WOPs in 2013-2015, OFID (the OPEC Fund for International Development) and GWOPA (the Global Water Operators Partnerships Alliance) had entered, in 2019 a new Agreement to help five water and sanitation utilities in Africa and Asia, to implement Short Term Action Plans and develop Medium Term Sustainability Improvement Plans (SIP) through WOPs. The African Water Association (AfWA) and WaterLinks coordinated at regional level the implementation of the WOPs projects with the utilities involved. In Asia, 3 WOPs have been implemented : Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Bangladesh) with Suez India as a mentor, Khulna Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Bangladesh) with Kota Surabaya, (Indonesia) as a mentor and Da Nang Water Supply Company (Vietnam) with Manila Water Company as a mentor (the Phillipines). In Africa, e-thekwini (South Africa) mentored both Blantyre Water Board (Malawi) and Sodo Town (Ethiopia).
During the 2.5-year long partnerships between the five pairs of utilities, “mentor” operators supported “mentees” with capacity development and change implementation in high-priority areas, ranging from improving billing and collection to energy efficiency, assembled in Short Term Action Plans (STAPs). The STAPs included originally a small investment component of 50,000 USD, such as a pilot project, to ignite long term changes towards sustainability.
Towards the end of the STAP implementation, the WOP partners conducted a more thorough joint analysis of the causes and potential solutions to their performance shortcomings and developed Sustainability Improvement Plans (SIPs) which would lay out a suite of longer-term improvement steps, combined with an investment component, to be implemented during a subsequent phase of improvement (lasting 3-5 years).
Throughout the process, the WOPs partners were supported by GWOPA to coordinate the partnering processes, on WOPs approaches and best WOPs practice; and with relevant technical training on themes requiring deeper learning. Key staff from participating operators shared their learning and showcased their experience through online Communities of Practice (CoPs) dedicated to various relevant technical issues and partnering issues as well, establishing bridges and fostering cross-fertilization between the regions.
The program was launched in May 2019, with a launching webinar and then a kick-off workshop in June 2019, organized in Barcelona, Spain, by GWOPA. Unfortunately, this was the last time GWOPA was able to hold an interregional workshop in presence of the participants, because of the Covid 19 pandemic. There were 2 intermediary interregional workshops held online, in November 2020, then October 2021 and eventually an online closing workshop in December 2021.
Project Description:
The projects all started with a diagnosis mission aiming at assessing the situation of the mentee utilities, discuss their challenges and identifying their priorities. GWOPA provided the SIP manual which guided the teams on the methodological approach for the planning of the projects. The mentees selected their priorities through participatory workshops and developed Short Term Action Plan on 3 to 4 working areas. Then the mentees visited their mentors to get some exposure on their good practices and working routines and refined their STAP. Unfortunately at this stage, the emergence of the Covid 19 pandemic put a halt to the field visits, and the teams couldn’t travel anymore. They had to switch to online activities for the rest of the capacity-building activities, training and monitoring of the implementation of the plans. This was quite challenging and the teams had to show some flexibility and resilience. The coordination work led by the facilitator was also much more intense as they had to lead the process of the transformation of field activities to online activities.
Action Plan:
Working Areas (WAs) | Operational challenges identified with mentor | Actions per STAP | Major Accomplishments |
Working Area 1: NRW management | - High NRW - Ineffective leak detection - Lack of leak detection equipments - No Zero pressure test (ZPT) | 1. Calculation of Water Balance in pilot DMAs
2. DMA Management Program
| 1. Initial calculation completed
2. Training on ZPT training held online on Sept 25 Next steps :
|
Working Area 2 Customer service | - Decision to establish a customer service call center has been taken - No customer service standards exist - No dedicated call-in number for customers - Complaints manually logged but no analysis of the types of complaints nor tracking of complaints are made
- No computerized customer reporting system in place. - Records of customer complaints done manually with no or limited analysis of the complaints - Absence of tracking of complaints and actions taken
|
Note: all activities on track for completion in 2020 |
Next steps:
|
Working Area 3: Asset management | - Need for a Condition Assessment Report due to old data in FMECA software no longer being used - GIS data for WTP exists but don’t have an Asset Management program |
|
Next steps:
|
Working Area 4: Human resource development | - Need to translate company targets into KPIs - No Guidelines for Annual Staff Evaluation - No an annual staff evaluation - No a staff training plan - No a HR management software |
|
2. Training plan for staff submitted by DAWACO on Oct 2020 for review of mentor Next steps:
|
NRW Management:
Successfully reduced NRW levels in the 2 pilot DMAs in Hai Chau beyond the 3% target as follows:
DMA 4.10- original NRW of 43.38 on Oct 2019 to 15.57 % by end of Feb 2021;
DMA 4.11 with original NRW of 28.98 in Oct 2019 to 20.76% be end of Feb 2021
Gained knowledge and experience on proper Water Balance calculation, delineation of DMA boundaries with hydraulic modeling in pilot sites, and conduct of Zero Pressure Test
Customer Service:
Creation and operationalization of a Customer Call Center with complete equipment including hiring of staff
Developed SOPs for receiving and monitoring customer complaints and actions; FAQs on DAWACO operations and Customer Service Standards and Protocols – all intended to improve customer engagement
Established a monthly computerized monitoring report system for complaints and action tracking
Conducted the first Customer Service Satisfaction Survey in Hai Chau
Asset Management:
Gained knowledge on the 10 Basic Steps of Asset Management Planning including appreciation of the importance of Asset Management as part of the overall effective management and operation of a water utility
Completed the review of current DAWACO asset management policies and manuals in order to identify ways for an improved asset management program
Completed the preparation of the Asset Condition Report or Condition Assessment Report (CAR) for Cau Do Water Treatment Plan. The report listed all asset in the Cau Do WTP with complete information such as asset ID and code, description, year installed, type, criticality, condition grade, and performance status
Human Resources Development:
Development of DAWACO organizational KPIs and Business Efficiency Metrics
Completion of DAWACO PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Legal), SWOT and Customer Profile
Gained knowledge on Goal Setting and Total Management System
Gained knowledge on training needs assessment process and completed the initial exercise on TNA with guidance from mentors
-COVID 19 pandemic affected implementation of most field activities , thus the shift to online WOP activities implementation from April 2020.
-Progress of WOP related activities was affected by lockdowns and travel restrictions.
-Internet connection is not good all the time that online meetings are affected.
From mentor perspective:
-Travel restrictions constrained us to maximize virtual platforms but onsite training is still different especially when teaching operations best practice
-Language barrier is heightened by sessions being conducted virtually
-Compounded adjustment to new normal