By NEIL HARTNELL
Tribune Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
The Water & Sewerage Corporation has extended by four-and-a-half years a contract that has saved itself and its customers more than $153m over the past decade.
The state-owned utility, in a statement, confirmed it has now contracted MIYA Bahamas until December 31, 2026, to help further reduce non-revenue water (NRW) losses from its system by another 57 percent by that deadline.
Non-revenue water is water lost from the Water & Sewerage Corporation's pipe network before it reaches the end-consumer. It added that MIYA, which was originally hired on February 17, 2012, has over the past decade slashed such losses - which represent a major financial drain on the utility - by 49 percent through cutting them from 6.87m imperial gallons per day to 3.5m.
It is this reduction that has saved the Water & Sewerage Corporation and its consumers some $153.062m, and the MIYA extension is targeting a further drop from 3.5m imperial gallons per day to just 1.5m by the time the contract ends at the close of 2026. Should this be achieved, the non-revenue water losses that will have been prevented will rise by a further 44 percent - from the current 13.68bn imperial gallons to 19.75bn.
The extension to the original contract, which expired last year on April 16, 2022, also provides for a structured transition of non-revenue water responsibilities from MIYA to the Water & Sewerage Corporation. A team from the latter, which will shadow its MIYA counterparts, will be in place by year-end 2023, and be ready to take over by end-2025.
"When project work began in January 2013, the non-revenue water was 6.87m imperial gallons per day, and Water & Sewerage Corporation was having difficulty supplying New Providence with water continuously for 24 hours a day," the Water & Sewerage Corporation said in a statement.
"Instead, water supply was being rationed with many areas without water supply for several hours each today. Our sales were in the range of around 5.3m imperial gallons per day, and it was difficult for us to attract any new major customers given our very challenging circumstances."
It added that, rather than continuing to expand fossil-fuel intensive reverse osmosis water production, in 2010 the utility "made the bold decision to implement a program to reduce non-revenue water based on performance, using world leading non-revenue water experts in collaboration with Bahamian field teams and contractors.
"According to the project's performance targets, it is predicted that the programme has already saved close to 13.68bn imperial gallons of water. By the end of 2026, these savings should reach 19.75bn imperial gallons. The amount saved on water purchases is around $153.062m. However, that figure excludes the cost of any new infrastructure put in place as part of the project nor other Water & Sewerage Corporation internal operational efficiency improvements," the statement added.
"Most importantly, the non-revenue water programme has facilitated a marked increase in the reliability and continuity of Water & Sewerage Corporation's New Providence water supply with 24/7 supply now in place for many years and, in parallel, the Water & Sewerage Corporation has been able to increase our water sales from approximately 5.3m imperial gallons per day in 2013 to over 7.5m imperial gallons per day with no increase in water production."
The Water & Sewerage Corporation added that the non-revenue water (NRW) initiative has "enabled a significant improvement in the consistency and reliability" of its New Providence water supply, which has been available "around-the-clock" for many years.
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