Palau, July 25, 2023- The 3rd Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) meeting for the Project for Strengthening Capacity in Non-Revenue Water Reduction in Palau (the Project) took place successfully and fruitfully. Representatives from Koror State Government, Embassy of Japan, JICA Palau Office, JICA Headquarters and Palau Public Utilities Corporation (PPUC) participated in the 3rd JCC. During the meeting, the PPUC’s project member and the JICA Expert Team reported three outputs regarding the improvement in implementation capacity of pipe renewal, the improvement in capacity of leak detection & pipe replacement, and the improvement in capacity of commercial loss reduction & water use monitoring & public awareness on water conservation.
As background of the Project, there are many and most likely deteriorated asbestos (AC) pipelines in Koror where approximately 81 % of total population in Palau live. Those pipelines were laid over 40 years ago and in use today even after the pipelines of 12.9 km were rehabilitated under the 2018-Grant-Aid-Project funded by the Japanese Government. This situation has resulted in non-revenue water (NRW) ratio of more than 50%. Palau faced a serious drought in 2016 and is expected to have another drought this year resulting in drying up dams, water rationing and water interruption. For these reasons, an effective use of water resource, NRW reduction, and water conservation through the improvement in residents’ awareness is indispensable.
The Project has been carried out since February 2022, completing in December 2023. The purpose of the Project is to develop the PPUC’s management & operation capacity on NRW reduction. At present, data base of the existing pipelines; pipe network analysis of the pipelines; leak detection; the replacement of water meters; PR reinforcement on internal leaks; the improvement in their planning skills through the pilot project in the Koror-Airai water distribution system contributed to the development of a basic pipeline renewal plan in order to not only reduce NRW ratio but also conserve water resource.
The project will give the citizens in Koror-Airai as well as PPUC positive impacts in terms of securing water resources, cutting down the PPUC’s operation cost due to NRW reduction, even though droughts.
For further information about this project, PPUC WWO will have a booth at the 14th Pacific Water and Wastewater Conference and Expo on August 28 to September 1 at Ngarachamayong Cultural Center.