Providing Durable Solutions to Overcome Water Problems
Overview
Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO) is a government-owned company mandated to deliver water and sewerage services in 16 urban centers across the Kingdom of Lesotho, a landlocked mountainous country surrounded by South Africa. With a population of about 2.1 million, WASCO provides water to an estimated 500,000 people across 16 urban areas, including the capital city of Maseru
We also reach water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) professionals in 50 countries through our Online Lecture Series (OLS) global knowledge-sharing initiative.
The challenge
Although Lesotho is a water-rich enclave, little of its freshwater supply reaches those with the most severe need.
As with water sector utilities in low- and middle-income areas, WASCO faces myriad challenges, risking its financial viability and impacting its ability to sustain reliable service.
Making matters worse, WASCO has faced challenges, including aging infrastructure, which creates supply issues, payment delinquencies, cash flow problems, a lack of agility in adopting new technology, and capacity gaps in its management and operational personnel.
The solution
Since forming a partnership in 2016, ROCKBlue has helped the water utility to overhaul its operations by adopting a holistic approach.
The outcomes
ROCKBlue partnered with the utility's management to strengthen strategic planning and capacity building. This helped the utility in:
- Their development of proposals for funding infrastructure projects.
- Installation of bulk water meters at three critical distribution reservoirs to help combat non-revenue water (water lost to leakage or theft).
- The creation of district metering areas for quick water balance estimates.
- Increasing production capacity through additional boreholes.
- Collecting 5% of its outstanding debt with 100% billing, while continuing service to its customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other success stories
LWB
MalawiSince 2019, have helped this utility ramp up its water production and supply capacity — and improve financial performance.
LWSC
ZambiaUsing valuable lessons learned in the developing world, we have worked with this large utility to help serve millions.
