Japanese engineers to train PWD to curb water wastage

Joaquim.Fernandes
Panaji: A team of Japanese engineers will arrive in Goa in August 2015 to train Goan engineers in reduction of the state’s non-revenue water (NRW) which is presently around 40%. The training programme will mark the beginning of the second phase of Goa’s efforts in capacity building in the control and management of NRW. The programme is part of Goa’s JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency) project.
While the JICA project involved augmentation of the water supply, phase-I aims at reduction of NRW. JICA project director A M Wachasundar told TOI that “in order to standardize water auditing procedures, the Goa government had requested Japan to grant phase-II of the capacity building in control and management of NRW. Japan has agreed”.
Wachasundar said that the second phase will last from 2015 to 2020. The target is to reduce Goa’s NRW to 20% in this time-frame. The Japanese tie-up is crucial; Japan operates at NRW of 5%. The reduction of NRW will also help the Goa government in its stated dream of supplying 24x7 water supply to the entire state.
Phase-I of the programme began in March 2011. Under phase-I, the JICA section of the PWD, headed by Wachasundar formed a dedicated cell of engineers to combat NRW. The cell adopted three zones in Goa, each having 2,000 water supply connections. These connections were surveyed, sophisticated equipment was used to detect underground leakages, flow meters were installed at strategic locations to find out the inflow and outflow to these zones and the NRW was measured.
Subsequently, the faults were rectified, non-working water meters were replaced and the NRW measured again. A reduction of 15% NRW was noted. This procedure will now be replicated all over the state.
While the arrival of the Japanese engineers is awaited, the department has already prepared long-term NRW reduction plan, annual NRW reduction plan and NRW reduction manual for use of the field staff.
While the engineers engage in technical procedures to reduce NRW, Wachasundar also stressed the importance of citizens reducing water wastage so that the government could provide 24x7 water supply. He said Goa’s water tariff is the lowest in the country because the Goa government subsidizes water supply to the tune of 75%. “We get four litres of treated water for one naya paisa,” Wachasundar said.
He said citizens often ignore leaking taps, overflowing overhead tanks, leaking flush valves because while repairing these may entail a bill of 500, leaving them unrepaired will increase his water bill by only about 5.