BACOLOD City – The Municipality of E. B. Magalona in Negros Occidental signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with a non-government organization for a comprehensive water management program.
Mayor Marvin Malacon and Dutch marine engineer Auke Idzenga, co-founder and chief executive officer of Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation, Inc. (AIDFI), signed the MOA at the mayor’s office last week.
Under the agreement, AIDFI shall assist the E. B. Magalona Waterworks Office (EBMWO) in developing a comprehensive and holistic program for the management of non-revenue water (NRW), that will be funded by the Coca-Cola Foundation.
Water districts and waterworks offices experience substantial operational losses in the form of NRW. If properly managed and reduced, these NRW could translate to more water services to more consumers and more revenues for the water districts and waterworks offices.
Through this comprehensive NRW Management Plan, EBMWO could properly manage and minimize its NRW losses, and can lead to improved services to its consumers.
The program involves a two-year study, starting with the municipal government sending at least four employees of EBMWO to a training-workshop at the Maynilad Water Academy.
The representatives will act as a dedicated team that will collaborate with AIDFI for the entire two-year study, starting from the training up to the development of a NRW Management Plan.
They will also assist AIDFI and Maynilad Water Academy personnel during the conduct of scanning and survey of the water distribution system, household survey, leak detection, flow measuring, and other related activities./PN
