Heiko Heidemann at the presentation of the impacts | Photo: Katharina Grottker
During the seventh network conference in April 2024, Heiko Heidemann, project manager of the GIZ utility platform, presented what has already been achieved within four and a half years together with representatives from the partnerships.
In October 2019, the utility platform was formally initiated with four partnerships at an initial working meeting. However, the coronavirus pandemic led to a forced break right at the start due to travel restrictions. Everyone then restarted in 2021. Dozens of business trips and job shadowing programmes have taken place in recent years. The partners have also visited trade fairs together. Today, there are 28 partnerships, including - despite or because of the war - 16 utility partnerships with Ukrainian companies. Three partnerships between waste management companies have also been established. This success was also achieved thanks to the lobbying work of the two associations, the German Water Partnership (GWP) and the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU).
Last update: January 2024 | Photo: Utility Platform
All participating companies report visible effects from the cooperation: improved management processes and operating procedures, more efficient use of resources, reduction of water losses, cost savings as well as improvements in drinking water quality and wastewater treatment processes - and, of course, increased trust as a basis for further cooperation. The German water suppliers gained a greater understanding of how much can be achieved with much more limited resources and that planning processes can also be uncomplicated, unbureaucratic and experimental. New sources of funding were also opened up. Around 60 German companies donated urgently needed goods for the Ukrainian water sector via the logistics and donation hub coordinated by GIZ and VKU.
Donated goods, as at 29 April 2024 | Graphic: Utility Platform
HAMBURG WASSER, Netze BW - KASHWASA and KUWASA
Patrick Nzamba, Managing Director of the Kahama Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (KASHWASA) in Tanzania, reported on the cooperation with HAMBURG WASSER and Netze BW in Stuttgart on behalf of the two water suppliers KASHWASA and KUWASA
Water leaks in the drinking water pipes were identified with the help of ultrasonic measuring devices and pressure loggers.
By optimising wastewater treatment, it was not only possible to improve water quality, but also to reduce the use of chemicals, resulting in cost savings.
GIS software was introduced and training courses organised. The improved availability of more accurate data has simplified workflows and optimised management processes.
Darby Gounden, International and Intergovernmental Relations Manager of the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, emphasised that it was also important to improve documentation in order to measure and demonstrate the effects of the cooperation.
The partnership is working together to draw up plans for monitoring drinking water quality and jointly developing ideas for setting up protection zones at the water source, as well as setting up automated systems for internal and external wastewater testing procedures (LIMS and logbook). Another common goal is to implement sustainable adaptation to climate change.
Viktoriia Zhuravlova, contact person of the Ukrainian water supplier Miskvodokanal in Sumy and Nataliia Muzychenko, contact person of the supplier Chernihivvodokanal thanked the German partners for their support since May 2022. Sumy is only 28 km away from the Russian border and was trapped by the troops for 48 days at the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion. The war damage is therefore very high. Chernihiv, in the north of the country, was also badly affected. The main focus of these partnerships is to support the two utilities in resuming their daily operations through targeted procurements such as raw water pumps for Chernihiv or laboratory equipment and a camera inspection system for Sumy. The repairs to the first pumping station in Chernihiv will soon be completed. "This would not have been possible without the partnership," emphasised Nataliia Muzychenko. The use of new pumps is also leading to the modernisation of the systems, which could also serve as a model for other water suppliers in Ukraine in the future.
Nicholas Mwape from the Lukanga Water Supply and Sanitation Company Ltd. (WSSC) in Zambia reported on the cooperation with Gelsenwasser in the drinking water sector and with the Emschergenossenschaft in the wastewater sector.
In order to reduce water losses in the drinking water sector, water meters were installed in a pilot region (District Meter Areas DMA), pressure measurements were carried out and the pipe networks were mapped using GIS software. This not only enabled leakages to be identified in the pilot area, but also gave Lukanga WSSC employees the ability to transfer these techniques to other urban areas in the future.
In addition, a pumping station at the Mushimbili Dam in Kapiri Town, which supplies around 65,000 people, and an elevated tank in Chisamba for more than 15,000 people were rehabilitated. A sewage treatment plant in Kapiri Moshi, which had been shut down for 10 years (for around 6,000 people), was also completely renovated and put back into operation.
HAMBURG WASSER, hansewasser Bremen – Miyahuna LLC Water Company
Majeda Al Zoubi, Water Quality Director at Miyahuna LLC Water Company in Jordan's capital Amman, emphasised that significant improvements in drinking water treatment have been achieved through a joint laboratory twinning with HAMBURG WASSER. Both companies, Miyahuna and HAMBURG WASSER, have their own drinking water and wastewater laboratories and carry out most of their own analyses. Miyahuna has the largest such laboratory in Jordan and lacks equally large laboratories in its own country with which it can exchange expertise. By improving the chemical dosing and filtration process, Miyahuna now saves around 38,600 euros per month.
"When you compare your situation with others, you see the true picture. You realise more than you would otherwise expect of yourself. That gives me confidence in my technical work, in my professionalism. That's a good thing. That's simply the main thing. I want to continue to optimise this and maximise the benefits." Majeda Al Zoubi
Livivvodokanal – Stadtentwässerung Dresden, StEB Köln, Berliner Wasserbetriebe
Volodymyr Bilynskyy, an employee of Livivvodokanal in Lviv, Ukraine, reported on the longest-standing partnership between German and Ukrainian utilities and emphasised the special solidarity they have experienced since the beginning of the war. Just two weeks after the escalation of the Russian war of aggression, an aid convoy with three urgently needed large generators and chemicals for water treatment was organised to Lviv. This enabled them to largely maintain the city's drinking water supply despite the partial destruction of the energy supply in the first months of the full-scale invasion. In addition, regular virtual meetings were initially organised to exchange information, e.g. on blackout scenarios. Ukrainian delegations now regularly visit Germany. For example, in June 2023, Ukrainian laboratory technicians took part in a special laboratory course organised by the German Saxony-Thuringia Regional Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste.
These are just seven examples from the 28 partnerships. They show the diversity of mutual learning and support processes. Utility partnerships have a multidimensional effect!
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