The encyclopedia · Engineering & Operations · Operational decision · 2008–2020
Batam's ATB and Malang's Tugu Tirta made NRW Indonesia's lowest by fixing losses
World Bank case study: ATB cut non-revenue water from 26% to under 15% and Tugu Tirta to 16% — recovered water, not new plants, closed the gap.
Adhya Tirta Batam · Tugu Tirta (Malang)
The solution
Indonesia has close to 400 water utilities, and only about half are considered well performing. The core operational disease is non-revenue water (NRW) — water produced but not billed, lost to leaks and theft — which in many utilities runs far above healthy levels while energy costs stay high.
Malang's Tugu Tirta and Batam's Adhya Tirta Batam (ATB) attacked losses instead of waiting for new plants. The World Bank documents Tugu Tirta's 2014–15 pilot: it picked an area with NRW above 30%, an isolatable network and high commercial losses, then rolled out district metered areas, active leak detection, pressure management and meter-and-billing discipline with consultant support.
Results: Tugu Tirta cut NRW to 16% by 2019 with 91.29% coverage and 168,500 connections — a cut of more than 60% over 11 years, saving about 7.2 million cubic meters a year — while ATB reduced NRW from 26% in 2015 to under 15% by 2020, serving 290,617 customers, 99.5% of the population. Batam News reported ATB's leakage near 15% against a national average around 32%.
The World Bank's 2021 Water in Circular Economy and Resilience case study presents the pair as national benchmarks: by recovering lost water and cutting energy use, both utilities expanded service without new raw-water sources.
Why it worked
- Zone isolation made losses measurable, so fixes could be targeted and verified.
- Active leak detection and pressure control attack physical loss directly.
- Meter accuracy and billing discipline recover the commercial half of losses.
- Each recovered cubic meter postpones expensive new production capacity.
What can be applied
For a network utility, the cheapest new capacity is the water already lost: zone it, meter it, hunt leaks, manage pressure — each recovered cubic meter is new supply at a fraction of plant cost.
Aftermath
Both utilities held losses in the mid-teens, among Indonesia's lowest, and became the country's reference cases for NRW and energy efficiency; the World Bank's WICER series (2021) and later reporting from Malang (about 15% losses in 2021) show the gains held after the programs ended.
Sources
- Water in Circular Economy and Resilience (WICER): The Cases of Tugu Tirta and Adhya Tirta Batam, Indonesia
- Menelisik Ketahanan Air Bersih di Kepulauan Riau, ATB Masih yang Terbaik
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