The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Operational decision · 2007–2017
ADB's $212.7M program helped Dhaka's DWASA deliver 24-hour water and halve losses
ADB's district-metered program turned Dhaka's DWASA around: 24-hour supply in completed zones, physical losses down from ~40% to below 15%, revenue tripled.
Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA)
The solution
Dhaka's water utility DWASA served a fast-growing megacity with aging pipes, unmetered and illegal connections, and water for only a few hours a day in many areas; more than half the water entering the network was nonrevenue water — lost, stolen or unbilled. Adding production capacity without fixing distribution would have kept leaking money away.
The turnaround, backed by ADB's $212.7 million Dhaka Water Supply Sector Development Program from 2007, was organizational: split the network into district metered areas (DMAs), meter them, manage pressure, and repair what the meters expose. ADB published the program as a model in its 2017 book The Dhaka Water Services Turnaround.
In the completed DMAs the results were concrete: pressurized, clean water 24 hours a day, physical losses cut from about 40% to below 15%, and revenue income tripled with bill collection at 98%. DWASA's managing director reports nonrevenue water down to 7% in DMA areas.
Why it worked: district metering made losses measurable and repairable zone by zone instead of an abstract system-wide number, and the recovered revenue — not donor funds — financed the next round of rehabilitation and expansion.
Why it worked
- Meters turn vague system losses into addressable leaks and connections.
- Small district zones make pressure management and repair practical.
- Recovered revenue funded further investment instead of new subsidies.
- 24-hour supply raised customers' willingness to pay and collections.
What can be applied
You cannot fix what you cannot see: metered districts turn vague system losses into addressable leaks and connections, letting a utility cut losses, fund itself and expand.
Aftermath
The DMA approach became DWASA's standard operating model and ADB's reference case for urban water in South Asia: follow-on projects kept commissioning DMAs with 24-hour supply, and ADB's 2017 book The Dhaka Water Services Turnaround presented the program as a template for other utilities. DWASA still faces the challenge of extending efficiency gains across its whole service area, but the turnaround is cited in ADB training and publications as a working model.
Sources
- Bangladesh: Dhaka Water Supply Sector Development Program
- Bangladesh: Dhaka Water Supply Network Improvement Project
- The Dhaka Water Services Turnaround
- The Dhaka Water Services Turnaround (PDF)
- Engr. Taqsem Khan — Profile
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