Water & Wastewater Asia September/October 2019

12 | MYANMAR WATER PORTAL
regularly quoted by interviewees, and some
people expressed a lack of trust towards
the MCDC. Interestingly, the cost of the
connection and of the service was very rarely
mentioned as an impediment to connecting.
AFTER IMPLEMENTING THE
PROJECT, WHAT WERE THE
CHANGES IMPLEMENTED AND HOW
HAS THE CURRENT SITUATION
IMPROVED?
Monitoring equipment has been procured
and installed: a borehole inspection camera
to inspect the tube wells, piezometers
to monitor the level of the aquifer, large
diameter flowmeters to monitor the quantity
of water supplied by the different BPS, etc.
Equipment related to the detection and the
repair of leaks has also been provided within
the framework of a specific component of the
project aims to implement a comprehensive
Non-Revenue Water (NRW) strategy in a
District Metered Area (DMA) created in a
central ward of the City.
The MCDC is being supported to create a
simple computerised customer and meter
database, define a procedure to regularly
update this database and link it to the
generation of commercial indicators. The
overall objective of this support is to
demonstrate the usefulness of this tool to
generate commercial indicators (related
to consumption, invoicing, etc.) that is
useful to monitor the service, to improve
the management of the meters’ park, to
detect irregularities and, at a later stage,
to ease the implementation of improved
service invoicing modalities. The rationale
behind this is that it is easier to manage a
service if its strengths and weaknesses are
well identified.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR THE PROJECT?
For the time being, our first objective is to
complete the works in Amarapura, to support
as many people as possible to connect to the
Speech by Dr Khin Maung Lwin about the benefits of drinkable water
networks, and to assist MCDC to take over
the operation of the water system and the
management of the service in order to deliver
a high-quality service to its customers. The
second objective is for this pilot project to
benefit MCDC through the implementation
of the larger-scale projects currently under
preparation or ongoing in the water sector
in Mandalay by sharing the lessons learnt,
providing tools and methods, etc.
WHAT FURTHER SUPPORT
IS NEEDED TO IMPROVE THE
SITUATION IN AMARAPURA?
After completion of this project, at least 2000
households should have gained access to an
improved water source. However, in terms of
sanitation, the situation remains unchanged
and hazardous, entailing greater exposure to
pollution, infectious and chronic diseases.
GRET is actively looking for partners to
implement an integrated project combining
wastewater, drainage and solid waste
management in the project area, in order
to contribute to the achievement of the
Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 11
approved by the United Nations in 2015. WWA
Implementation of piping works
All photo credits to GRET.
Water & Wastewater Asia • September / October 2019