Implementing water-energy loss management in water supply systems through a collaborative project: the Portuguese national initiative

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present the collaborative project iPERDAS, on water losses and energy efficiency management, and provide examples of the main results achieved by the participants during 2014. iPERDAS, led by LNEC (National Civil Engineering Laboratory, Portugal), was a project through which 17 water utilities developed their own water-energy losses programmes, following a joint training and capacitation approach (www.iPERDAS.org). The group of participating water utilities was distributed across the country and supplies water to nearly 16% of the Portuguese population along 11633 km of pipes. The group was quite heterogeneous in terms of dimension, corporate structure and level of maturity in water losses management which enabled rich discussions and sharing of best practices. Utilities have received collective as well as one-on-one support, specific training, and benefited from networking with each other in a common and simultaneous process, with similar difficulties and challenges, leading to an effective sharing of solutions. The most significant results of this project include the utilities’ Water and Energy Losses Management Plans, the establishment of solid procedures to carry out water and energy audits, the improvement of inter-departmental communication and the development of an integrated and sound organisational process for water-energy management.