Water & Wastewater Asia January/February 2023

IN THE FIELD
A CASE STUDY
in NRW in Kuala Lumpur
An example of the
90-series Cla-Val
pipes installed in
Kuala Lumpur
In 1998, Kuala Lumpur, the capital
city of Malaysia and home to over 1.5
million people, was running out of
water.
To avert the looming crisis, the nonrevenue
water performance-based
contract (NRW-PBC) project was
implemented. A pilot phase ran for 18
months, with a target to reduce NRW
by 18.5 megalitres per day (MLD).
After the implementation of this
phase, the contractor, Cla-Val, was
awarded phase two, which had an
implementation period of nine years
and a target to save 198.9 MLD.
Cla-Val reported that they were
able to reduce NRW by 198 million
litres per day, which was equal
to about 10% of the city’s total
water production at the start of
the contract. They repaired more
than 11,000 leaks across the city,
replaced 119,000 water meters,
avoided capital expenditure on
additional water sources estimated
at US$110m, and added revenue
from the sales of saved water. They
also reduced operating cost per
units of water sold, in addition to
establishing more than 220 district
metered areas (DMAs).
30 WATER & WASTEWATER ASIA | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023