The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Operational decision · 2008–2012
Davao Water halved zone losses by twinning with Malaysia's Ranhill
Twinning with Ranhill taught Davao's utility to zone, measure and fix: NRW fell from 28.4% to 25.5% in 18 months, and one zone went from 41% to 9%.
Davao City Water District (DCWD)
The solution
Davao City Water District (DCWD), the water utility of the Philippines' largest city in Mindanao, faced the classic emerging-market problem: high non-revenue water (NRW) — water produced but not billed through leaks, theft and inaccurate meters — just as demand was growing.
Instead of another set of consultants, DCWD joined ADB-supported WaterLinks' operators' partnerships and was twinned with Malaysia's Ranhill Utilities Berhad, which had built its own NRW expertise. Ranhill's holistic approach involved the whole organization, not just engineering teams.
With a nine-month program extension agreed in early 2009, DCWD rolled out district metered areas — splitting the system into smaller subsystems whose NRW is computed individually — plus active leak detection, pressure-regulating valves in high-pressure zones, production-meter validation and awareness for all 572 employees. Citywide NRW fell from 28.4% in 2008 to 25.5% by end-2009, close to the "ambitious" 25% target.
The approach kept paying off: Edge Davao reported that the 14 zones with district metered areas established between 2009 and 2011 cut NRW by 12% overall, with the first zone, Green Meadows, falling from 41% loss in 2009 to 9% in 2011; DCWD targeted the national 20% standard from 27% in 2011.
Why it worked
- A peer utility transfers practical know-how faster than generic consulting.
- District metered areas make losses visible and fixable zone by zone.
- Pressure management and meter checks attack physical and commercial loss.
- Engaging all 572 employees made NRW everyone's job, not one team's.
What can be applied
Twinning with a proven foreign utility transfers know-how no report can: divide the network into measured zones, hunt leaks, manage pressure, verify meters — make loss reduction everyone's job.
Aftermath
By 2012 DCWD was installing district metered areas in new subdivisions as standard practice and aiming citywide NRW at the LWUA standard of 20%; the Davao–Ranhill twinning became one of the ADB-supported WaterLinks' showcase partnerships for Asian water utilities.
Sources
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