Leakages cost BWB 42% revenue
Blantyre Water Board (BWB) says it is losing at least 42 percent of potential income through non-revenue water resulting from ground water losses, illegal connections and billing system.
BWB director of technical services Mavuto Chiipanthenga said this yesterday when he presided over a send-off and welcoming ceremony for Japanese volunteers.
The outgoing volunteer Aiko Endo and four new volunteers from Yokohama Water Works Bureau have been attached to BWB as part of an exchange programme between the board and the bureau in collaboration with Japanese International Cooperation Agency (Jica).
Chiipanthenga said through the partnership which started five years ago and was renewed last year, the board hopes to improve service delivery in management of water resources, billing, non-revenue water reduction and efficiency of pumping equipment.
He Said: “We are facing this huge challenge of non-revenue water, every now and then we are incurring physical and commercial losses.
Knowing that Japan is very advanced technologically, we are optimistic that through these volunteers, we will learn in several fields, particularly regarding improvement of service delivery.”
Jica volunteer coordinator Akiko Kawamoto said the four volunteers have vast technical expertise.
“I believe that the coming in of these four will help improve service delivery, thereby enable the board to collect more revenue.
“They are experienced and have worked in the water field in different countries,” she said.
In her farewell remarks, Endo, hailed the partnership, saying her two-year stay in Malawi boosted her skills.
BWB is set to send about four volunteers to Yokohama Water Works Bureau this October. n
