The Water and Sanitation Corporation (WASAC Group) last week held discussions with various companies and water utilities that took part in the 2023 Water Development Congress and Exhibition to find ways of reducing non-revenue water losses and overcome challenges hindering universal water access.

About 1,000 experts met to assess how more than two billion people without clean water around the world can be covered.

The conference was organized by the International Water Association and the government of Rwanda through WASAC Group and other partners.

Prof. Omar Munyaneza, the CEO of WASAC Group, highlighted the organization's discussions with Itron, a provider of smart meters, data collection, and utility software systems utilized by over 8,000 utilities worldwide to enhance energy and water management.

The focus of these conversations was exploring how Itron's technology could assist WASAC Group in significantly reducing water loss within its distribution networks. This technology offers capabilities such as detecting pipe damage and monitoring water pressure, enabling proactive measures to address issues and optimize water supply efficiency.

Itron, for instance, has reduced lost water to 12 per cent in Burundi. In Mali, water revenue losses were reduced to 16 per cent.

Over 44 per cent of the water supplied within different networks is lost in Rwanda, according to statistics by the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA).

In 2022, out of 68 million cubic metres of produced water, only 37 million cubic metres was sold to people.

The loss implies that 45 per cent of water did not reach the people, triggering Rwf 9.9 billion losses.

The water losses are mainly due to leakages, illegal connections, road construction, meter inaccuracies, meter bursts, meter blocks, natural disasters, and the practice of stealing water by moving meters.

Munyaneza said that they had conversations with counterparts in Burundi who testified that drastic reduction in water revenue loss was achieved in only three years.

"This is a great achievement that can also be recorded in Rwanda. If we have a target of 5 per cent reduction in water loss in five years, it is amazing to see that it was reduced by 12 per cent elsewhere and we can achieve it,” he said.

He said WASAC Group and Itron exchanged experts to share information about each company’s status to pave way for addressing the gap in Rwanda.

WASAC Group also held talks with companies in Zambia, Ghana, Uganda, Burundi, Germany, and others, on partnerships to improve water access.

WASAC Group met with the Hungarian Ambassador to Rwanda, Zsolt Mészáros, and Dr. Károly Kovács, the President of Hungarian Water Partnership, to discuss Hungary's $52 million financial support to upgrade Karenge Water Treatment Plant's capacity from 15,000m³ to 36,000 m³ of Water every day.

Currently, 12,000 cubic metres of the plant’s water are supplied to residents of different parts of Kigali and 3,000 cubic meters to residents of Rwamagana District.

Works to upgrade the factory will begin in January 2024.

Rwanda targets 100% universal access to clean water by 2024. The Ministry of Infrastructure announced an investment of $440 million needed to set up water treatment plants and supply systems in urban and rural areas in line with achieving universal water access in Rwanda.