Maynilad Water Academy (MWA) won in the WaterLinks Awards 2015 for its Twinning Program that aimed to build the capacities of Nepal’s Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) in the fields of water loss management and water quality monitoring.
The WaterLinks Awards recognizes water operator partnerships (WOP) that achieve significant milestones in gaining improved access to water services, and scaling up of good practices. Maynilad and DWSS were awarded under the “Outstanding Outcomes Based on Impact” Category.
The recognition was given during the 3rd Global WOP’s Congress and General Assembly of the Global Water Operators Partnership Alliance (GWOPA) in Barcelona, Spain.
Through the partnership funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the water service provider for Nepal’s Leknath municipality—Lekhnath Small Town Water Supply and Users Committee (LSTWSSUC)—was able to reduce its Non-Revenue Water (NRW) by 6%, increase number of customers by 23%, and enhance water availability. Consequently, LSTWSSUC was also able to increase its revenue by some 43%.
Meanwhile, through the mentorship of Maynilad and the World Health Organization, LSTWSSUC was also able to develop a local water quality testing protocol and conduct monitoring.
WaterLinks is a regional network of water services operators, practitioners and development partners. It was established by the ADB, International Water Association (IWA), and United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and later incorporated in the Philippines as a non-profit organization.