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COA to water districts: Keep distribution losses at 20% or below for viable operations
COA to water districts: Keep distribution losses at 20% or below for viable operations
The Commission on Audit (COA) has reminded water districts under the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) to keep their distribution losses at 20 percent or below for viable operations.
In its annual audit report, COA cited the case of the San Quintin Water District (SQWD) in Pangasinan which recorded a 54 percent distribution losses or Non-Revenue Water (NRW) rate in 2023.
SQWD's poor performance in 2023 and previous years affected the viability of its operation as mandated under LWUA Memorandum Circular No. 004-10, issued on Feb. 23, 2010 and LWUA Memorandum Circular No. 005-23 dated July 31, 2023 which provide the acceptable NWR rate at 20 percent, it said.
Non-adherence to the acceptable NWR rate also defeated LWUA's mandate of mitigating the adverse effects of the El Niño phenomenon, it also said.
Also in its audit report, COA said the 54 percent distribution losses of SQWD was even seven percent higher than the NRW rate it recorded in 2022, which showed that the COA's recommendations the previous years have not been implemented.
It said that when the SQWD entered into a joint venture operation with Prime Water Infrastructure Corporation and commenced its operations on Dec. 1, 2022, one of its objectives is to reduce or maintain distribution losses to national or industry-acceptable levels.
However, the audit team said that the partnership has not yet implemented any major project that will address its NRW issue, it also said .
"The NRW serves as one of the Key Performance Indicators in determining the performance of the SQWD. Primarily, it serves as the standard measure of level of efficiency in the production and utilization of water," the audit report pointed out.
"The reduction of the NRW should be a continuous undertaking of the SQWD through PrimeWater Infrastructure Corporation. Control measures should be in place. Reported issues contributing to the unaccounted water should be acted upon immediately to strictly implement water conservation measures," it stressed.
The COA has recommended that SQWD monitor the compliance of its joint venture partner with the established rules and regulations on NRW to reduce it to acceptable levels.