Page 6 - WATER SECTOR MAGAZINE VOLUME 3

METER VALIDATION EXERCISE:

WAKE UP CALL TO BWB

operations so as to succeed in the business of providing reliable and affordable water to the
By PRISCILLA MATEYU
BLANTYRE WATER BOARD people in Blantyre and surrounding areas.

Blantyre Water Board (BWB) has promised The meter validation exercise, which was done to authenticate the number and status
efficient service delivery following a of meters within the Board’s water supply area, recommended several strategies to be
meter validation exercise which it carried implemented for the Board to improve in its operations.
out from July to December 2016. The
exercise which was done in order to Presenting findings of the meter validation exercise to its senior management, Team Leader
verify the number of meters within the of the exercise, Andrew Masiye, explained that there is need for the Board to re-demarcate
Board’s supply area, also looked at issues its meter-reading walk routes and use sophisticated ways of locating meters and pipeline
of how the Board would improve in its infrastructure.
distribution and revenue collection.
“There is need for the Board to revisit its walk routes. The current walk routes must be
The Meter Validation Exercise, revealed demarcated further to ease collection of meter readings. There is also need to start using
several anomalies in the Board’s GIS and GPS to locate all connections within the system if the Board is to reduce its non-
operations especially on distribution and revenue water,” explained Masiye.
revenue collection, which were hindering
the Board’s growth. The Board has already started implementing the recommendations within the last six
months and fruits of such changes within its operations can be seen.
The Board’s Chief Executive Henry
Bakuwa said that they have already started During the exercise the Board updated its customer base to about 50,000 and also discovered
rectifying some of the anomalies and that it has over 67,000 prospective customers in need of water. The Board plans to be holding
results are evident. meter validation exercises every three years.
“The Meter Validation Exercise revealed
a lot of anomalies within our operations
especially in the distribution system. We
were able to find about 1,600 accounts,
which were not being billed due to different
reasons. And on top of it we managed to
uproot 219 illegal connections from both
domestic and commercial customers,”
explained Bakuwa.

The Board also said that they managed to
uncover about 8,000 faulty meters, which
were instantly being replaced during the
exercise and Bakuwa said this will ensure
proper billing and improved revenue
collection.

The Meter Validation Exercise also
revealed proliferation of illegal boreholes
especially sunk by large water consumers.

Bakuwa said the increased sinking
of boreholes within the supply area,
especially by large consumers, is affecting
the Board’s revenue. He, however, said the
Board is in talks with government to help
on the matter.

“Currently, we are discussing with
government to take action on these illegal
boreholes within the city. Customers must
know that drilling of boreholes without
proper permits is an offence,” said Bakuwa.
BWB CEO Henry Bakuwa.
He further stated that it is imperative
for the Board to keep improving on its
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