MANILA – A new agreement signed this week at a gathering of public and private sector water experts will make it easier to expand partnerships for better water and wastewater management, benefiting tens of thousands of citizens in cities throughout Asia and the Pacific.

Signed at the WaterLinks Forum by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), WaterLinks, and the WaterLinks Alliance, including Miya Philippines, Inc. (Miya), Borouge Pte Ltd (Borouge), and the Indonesia Water Supply Association (PERPAMSI), the memorandum of understanding (MOU) sets out conditions to help improve urban water supply and sanitation services of at least 220,000 people in the region.

“The United States Government is committed to address the water crisis," said Reed Aeschliman, the Deputy Mission Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Philippines. "We value continued cooperation with regional development partners as well as local partners. This partnership will greatly improve vital water services and access for people living in cities that will lead to a higher quality of life.”

The MOU also helps water services providers to become more adaptive and resilient to potential impacts caused by climate change. Each of the MOU parties brings specific experience, technology, methodologies and resources to promote partnerships in Asia.

This week’s Forum, hosted by WaterLinks, with support from USAID and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), brought together over 200 water service providers, practitioners and private sector and development partners from across Asia, the Pacific, Australia and the United States to discuss recent developments in solving urban water and wastewater inefficiencies and effective water operators partnerships. Participants learned about water loss reduction, wastewater management and reuse, water quality management and climate change resilience. Forum participants gained practical know-how to address urban water supply and wastewater management challenges and discovered the benefits of peer-to-peer learning and innovative
technology applications through the partnerships.

WaterLinks Alliance, a two-year public-private sector initiative supported by USAID, helps develop partnerships that enable experienced water operator and other private sector partners to help less experienced water operator partners increase water system efficiencies that enhance and expand access to urban water and sanitation services. WaterLinks Alliance will work in collaboration with WaterLinks, ADB, UN-Habitat Global Water Operator Partnership Alliance, Borouge Pte Ltd., Miya Water Services, and the Indonesia Water Supply Association.

WaterLinks is collaborating with Borouge and Malaysia’s Ranhill Water Services to improve the water supply delivery system of the Denpasar Water Supply Company in Bali, Indonesia. Borouge is supplying over 2,000 meter of polyethylene pipes recognized for their durability and reliability against corrosion and leakage. Ranhill also offers practical training and advisory services for Denpasar Water to reduce its water losses, thus building its climate resilience while improving water supply reliability.