Hydro-Comp Enterprises participated in a project funded by the German Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) and  implemented by the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS). The program focused on the introduction of Asset Management methods in order to improve efficiency and transparency in managing water and sanitation infrastructure in South Eeast Europe (SEE).

As part of the project an Asset Management Business Planning model (AM-BPM) was developed by Hydro-Comp Enterprises. The tool enables Municipalities and Funding organisations to assess the performance and sustainability of the Public Utility’s future operation, including its ability to repay loans. Implementation of Hydro-Comp’s Business Planning methodology and associated Model (EDAMS-AM-BPM) empowers Municipalities/ Utilities to:

1. Evaluate the current status of the AM programs in the Utility & provides a basis for integrated AM technical planning.
2. Enforce a clear & documented strategy for managing municipal assets from design to disposal at end of useful life.
3. Institute verifiable and monitored investment plans.
4. Link investment plans to long term funding requirements
5. Create a long-term capital funding program.
6. Provide for meaningful Financial Reporting

The developed Business Planning Model (AM-BPM) was piloted in seven Municipalities/Public Utilities from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia

Hydro-Comp has been active in Zambia for the last 15 years with EDAMS systems being used in Lusaka and Nkana Water and Sewerage Companies since 2002. The objective of the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) AM project was to provide knowledge transfer and practical support to LWSC and its staff, over an eighteen (18) month period, on the organization’s journey towards Asset Management Excellence in line with ISO 5500 standards.

The general approach followed in the AM project was one of inter-organization knowledge transfer via executing a range of tasks using the EDAMS systems:

1) Formulating AM Policy

2) The building of a solid Technical database and Financial Asset database

3) Implementing Maintenance Managem.

4) Implementing AM Planning

5) Implementing Investment Planning and Business Planning

6) Formulating and monitoring a Strategic Asset Management Plan

The city of Kimberley in South Africa, also known as the Diamond City, is the Capital of the Northern Cape Province. The Sol Plaatje Municipality (SPM) was established in 2000 when the Kimberley and Ritchie Municipalities were merged.

The Objective of the Non-revenue Water (NRW) Minimisation Project was to investigate and formulate and implement solutions to address the challenges. The study findings and recommendations were initially presented to the SPM Management. The NRW Audit revealed that 45% of all the water produced,  (on average 75 ML/day) was lost in leakage in the system,  6.6% was wasted or lost in internal leaks by consumers who were not paying their bills, 10.1% was used by unauthorised consumptions and 7.1% was not recorded due to lack of meter readings or problematic meters. In fact only 26.2% of the water produced was properly metered, invoiced for and paid for by consumers.

The rehabilitation/ optimisation plans were presented as a Commercial Rehabilitation programme and a Network Optimization programme. The Commercial rehabilitation programme identified every single connection, property and plot (in the case of non-registered properties), the type of problem it exhibited and its contribution to an overall monetary loss by the Municipality of R 340,000 per day.

The Network Optimisation plan proposed minimal interventions estimated to cost about R 10 million that would render the network functional, both for present and future demands and properly reduce leakage by as much as 30% and reduce electricity costs from pumping by as much as 20%.

An innovative project was executed in the City of Latur, State of Maharashra in India. Through Maharashtra Jeevan Pradikaran (MJP), a consortium of companies with the participation of Hydro-Comp Enterprises Ltd. undertook a 20 years management contract project for the water supply to the city. Latur city is located in the Maratwada region of Maharashtra and is the district headquarters for Latur district. The city has an area of 32.56 sq kms and a population of approximately three Lakhs, as per the 2001 census. It is one of the fastest growing cities in the Maratawada division with a decadal growth of over 52%.

The water scheme involves bulk water transmission over 65 km and distribution network over 600 km Aim of the project is to sufficiently address the water needs of the city and provide the citizens with 100 Litres per Capital per Day (LPCD) of water supply on a 24*7 basis. 

The optimisation of the existing network utilised the network and demand management EDAMS systems to effectively rezone and optimise the system in order to balance the pressure distribution and ensure proper flow conditions. A properly zoned, optimised network automatically will reduce existing leakage, minimise the likelihood of future leaks, make leakage control easier and prolong the effective lifespan of the network.

Latur network with the proposed changes can cope with the 2031 demands assuming continuous supply. Advanced engineering techniques were used along with latest IT technology in order to properly model and analyse the network. The extensive modelling provided the means of understanding the operational behaviour of the network and enabled the engineer to come up with right to the point recommendations.

The Water Development Department (WDD) in Cyprus is responsible for Water Resources (ground and surface water) and for all transmission mains and structures for the entire country. In many cases it is also responsible for distribution networks dealing with raw, clean, desalinated and recycled water supply and sewer disposal.

Hydro-Comp Enterprises from 2010 to 2014 was responsible for the development & implementation of an integrated GIS and asset management system that covers the needs of the Department. The main objective was the introduction, customization and supply of an operational and integrated Geographical and Assets & Water Resources Management System for WDD that would be compatible with the best international practices and would cover all the needs of the Divisions of WDD in information and procedures.

The implementation of EDAMS Assets Infrastructure Management system and of the EDAMS Assets Water Resources & Hydrology Management system in combination with the creation of a comprehensive geographical database has improved considerably the operations of Water Development Department and has resulted in an organization with a growth path that includes efficient and computerized maintenance management, work order scheduling and hydrologic modelling of watersheds and rivers.

Larnaca Water Board (LWB) operates 357 km of water supply network and provides water to 35,000 households within the municipal boundaries of the city of Larnaka and in the tourist area of Larnaka-Dhekelia.

The main objective of the Project was the procurement, installation, configuration and implementation of a Commercial and Technical Management Information System for Water Utilities that conforms to industry best practices and is able to meet all of the Utility’s current commercial and technical information requirements.

The Commercial systems covered Customer, Billing services, Debt Mangement and Customer Relationship Management. The technical services covered the Management of the Distribution network and all related assets, Zoning, Balancing and control of Non Revenue Water.

The EDAMS systems were integrated to the Water Board’s SCADA Telemetry System, GIS system and Financial, Payroll, and Inventory Management Systems.

This project is part of the 3rd phase of the KFW funding, and was executed by Hydro-Comp (Cyprus) in collaboration with our partner BerlinWasser. The overall aim of the project was to achieve better operational and commercial efficiency and help the Water Utilities to become self financed.

This project was different from other institutional projects as it did not only include revisiting of business processes and procedures but also included the implementation of operational integrated management information systems and the compilation and validation of comprehensive technical and commercial databases. 

 The main component of the project targeted the strengthening of the technical services of the Utilities so that the Departments become capable to:

1. Ensure the sustainability of a reliable network asset register and the provision of both operational and management reports; the asset register will also form the basis of a planned Repairs & Maintenance (R&M) information system.
2. Provide output to be used in conservation planning with the main objective of reducing un-accounted for water (UFW) and as an input to network optimisation, being considered a necessary step towards future infrastructure planning.

In effect, it is considered that the Technical Departments have a considerable impact in increasing revenues, reducing operational expenditure and reducing capital expenditure for future expansion. The transformation of the Technical Services of the Utilities included interventions in three areas:

• IT solutions: The implementation of IT systems with respect to Network Asset Management, Maintenance Management, Non-Revenue Water reduction and Information
• Data Quality: The improvement of data quality for both commercial and network data.
• Institutional Strengthening activities with emphasis on Problem Analysis, Priorities for Change, Business Processes, Training and Action Plans formulation & implementation. 

World Bank and the Water Supply Companies in the Danube River Catchment Area (IAWD) launched a project with main objective to create greater awareness about and improve Asset Management practices in the Danube region. The Program  covered the water supply and sanitation sector in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine.

Hydro-Comp Enterprises operated and supported the Asset Management Service Centre and provided Management Reports aimed at combining and processing information from both the Commercial and Technical Departments of the selected Utility Partners and provided the Management of these utilities, on a regular basis, comprehensive reports on all AM aspects of operations. The outcomes from the project included direct results for the 18 current utility partners, and products on Asset Management that were made available for further dissemination to other Danube Water Program Partners. 

Dar es Salaam is the largest and most important commercial and industrial centre in Tanzania with an estimated population (2002 census) of 2.5 million and a growth rate of about 4.3%.

Hydro-Comp was awarded a World Bank project for the supply, installation and implementation of the EDAMS suite of systems with emphasis on billing and collection. The first phase of the project lasted 8 months. During this phase the EDAMS systems were successfully deployed at the DAWASCO head office. Satellite operations of the commercial department namely receipting, meter reading, customer services, and customer enquiries were also deployed during that period in 12 Area Offices across Dar es Salaam. 

Phase II of the project followed covering a 12 month transition period with continuous on-site presence by experienced Hydro-Comp support engineers for effective system support, knowledge transfer, and capacity building so as to ensure system sustainability. A number of formal training courses were organised, both for end-users as well as technical courses, to ensure effective knowledge transfer.

Mombasa is the second largest commercial / industrial centre in Kenya with an estimated population over one million and a growth rate of between 3.5% and 3.8%.

An international tender was issued for the supply and implementation of a Customer Information Management System for MOWASCO. The project was part of a larger project entitled “Mombasa Water and Sanitation Improvement Project (WaSSIP)” funded by the ‘Agence Française de Développement’ (AFD). Hydro-Comp Cyprus was selected among a number of companies as it achieved the best score in both Technical and Financial evaluations. The project also included the provision of hardware and meter reading units, and was executed under the umbrella of the joint venture of Seureca (subsidiary of Veolia Environment) and Office International de l’Eau (OIEau). The project included also a second phase for the extension of the systems to 6 smaller Water Utilities at the East Coast Area.

The 1^st phase of the project included the deployment of the EDAMS Billing and Customer Information system at the MOWASCO Head office and 6 Area offices.  The Area Offices were linked to the central database at the Head office through wireless wide area network (WAN) connections.

The system was embraced by most of the staff who very quickly got involved and learned to use it daily becoming more effective; but mostly it was welcomed by the Management and the Auditors of the Organisation as they could have better control, extract critical information quickly, reduce paper work and improve customer satisfaction and the Organisation’s image. Positive feedback has been already received from many customers.