IDB: WSC performance in line with region’s best

IDB: WSC performance in line with region’s best

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — The Water & Sewerage Corporation, through a performance-based contract (PBC), has seen a reduction in non-revenue water (NRW) from 54 percent to 23 percent over a seven year period, the Inter-American Development Bank has noted.

Non-revenue water represents water that is produced but lost due to physical losses from leaking and  broken  pipes,  or  commercial  losses  caused  by  the  under-registration  of  customer  meters, illegal connections and theft.

In a newly released report, the bank said this value was “in line with the best-performing utilities in the region”.

Entitled, “From Structures to Services: the Path to Better Infrastructure in Latin America and the Caribbean”, the report highlighted The Bahamas for using performance-based contracts to improve efficiency.

It was referencing the project undertaken by Miya Bahamas in 2012 to to upgrade the New Providence water utility system and improve its level of efficiency. The $83 million-dollar contract was mostly financed by the IDB.

The IDB noted that “performance-based  contracts  and  regulations  have  been  successfully  used  to increase the efficiency of service provision and boost the revenues of service providers while improving the quality of service”.

“Another success story was the use of performance-based contracts (PBCs) in The Bahamas,” the bank continued.

“New Providence Island had endemic problems with water quality, low pressure, and occasional rationing, as well as ever-increasing NRW quantities. In 2008–09, the utility (Bahamas Water and Sewerage Corporation) developed a comprehensive plan for NRW reduction and control including technical interventions under a PBC.”

According to the IDB, the results were “sound”.

“Between 2013 and 2019, the utility reduced NRW from 54 percent to only 23 percent, a value that is in line with the best-performing utilities in the region.”