Sustainable Management of Non-Revenue Water

Lebanon – 2021

A team of Awar Water experts, led by our Executive Director Dr. Faraj El Awar, provided their consulting services to three Lebanese water utilities in support of their efforts for sustainable management of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) within the towns of Nabi Osman, Moqraq-Toufiqiye, Zabboud-Bejjeje and Nasrieh in Bekaa, Fouar in North Lebanon, and Bint Jbeil in South Lebanon. The project, which supported the institutional and staff capacities of the Bekaa, North Lebanon, and South Lebanon Water Establishments (SLWE/NLWE/BWE) in NRW management, was funded by GVC- WeWorld.

Project scope of work

  1. Reverse mapping
    1. Plan and supervise field inspections by WE staff to reverse map uncertain components of pilot locality water networks, as well as collect information for Objective 4.
    2. Update WE GIS databases to reflect physical realities using adopted data models.
    3. Design ‘Data Update SOPs’ using GIS and any other information systems adopted by each WE (such as ERP, CRP, SCADA, SWMS).
  2. Hydraulic modelling and operation
    1. Create or update hydraulic models corresponding to pilot locality water networks and calibrate them iteratively through (service provider supervised) physical data collection by WE staff to match actual system behavior.
    2. Train WE staff, through the pilot localities as case studies, on practical hydraulic modeling for service improvement and NRW management.
    3. Produce an SOP for each water network for local operators to abide by to ensure optimal system performance under existing (post-intervention) conditions balancing efficiency, equity, and asset lifetime.
  3. Water accounting
    1. Produce and report on three water balances for each of the pilot localities; the first as soon as possible after commencing the Service, the second at its mid-term, and the last at least two weeks ahead of and no more than one month before its end.
    2. Train all relevant WE staff, through the pilot localities as case studies, on practical water accounting for NRW assessment, service improvement, and cost recovery.
    3. Design customized “Water Accounting SOPs” and templates for use by WEs for small-to-medium water networks similar to those of the pilot localities.

Reverse Mapping Task

The main aim of the Reverse Mapping task was to ensure that the AutoCAD drawings received by the three beneficiary RWEs were assessed, edited, and cleaned to guarantee a seamless import into the WaterGEMS for subsequent hydraulic modeling. New geodatabases, with distribution network GIS maps that reflected reality, were created for the networks of each of the studied pilot localities. Moreover, a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) was developed, for the GIS departments of the beneficiary RWEs to enhance their performance in preparation for future hydraulic modeling and/or asset management. 

Hydraulic Modeling Task

The modelling of all networks of the studied localities was done using WaterGEMS, which is an industry standard package that can read pipe network input from several formats. Distribution network data were obtained from the developed GIS maps and were imported into the model. The developed models provided the pressure distribution in the networks of the studied localities. Such data is useful for improvement of network configuration and for leak detection by locating sudden pressure drops. 

Water Accounting Task

Water accounting in the studied pilot localities was done by (a) collecting bulk and household water meter readings from all localities; (b) using the water meter collected data to calculate the average daily water supply and household consumption; and (c) calculating physical water losses, commercial non-revenue water (NRW), and other standard NRW KPIs in the analyzed networks. Calculations showed NRW rates of more than 60% in all studies networks.

Project Results

  1. Production of a set of new geodatabases including accurate GIS maps for all the water distribution networks, which reflect on-the-ground reality, in the studied pilot localities.
  2. Production of a set of hydraulic models, with accurate pressure distribution, for all the distribution networks in the studied pilot localities.
  3. Production of a set of physical and commercial non-revenue water (NRW) rates for all the networks in the studied localities.
  4. Production of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for (a) receiving/commissioning by the water establishments of GIS databases and network maps that are received from contractors; (b) hydraulic modeling of water distribution networks and using modeling for network management and NRW detection; and (c) water accounting methods and using accounting for calculation of NRW rates.
  5. Training of key staff of the beneficiary regional water utilities (Bekaa, North Lebanon, and South Lebanon Establishments) on GIS mapping, hydraulic modeling, and water accounting and how to make use of these techniques in their daily work.

Project Client: WeWorld – GVC

Project Donor: European Commission