Regional Capacity Building:

To support WOPs, WaterLinks facilitates the preparation and implementation of regional training programs, seminars, and workshops on various topics of utility operations e.g. NRW management, digital transformation, wastewater and sanitation management, among others.

Webinars Supported by Xylem USA

Following the travel restrictions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, WaterLinks and Xylem pivoted to online webinars in lieu of the planned advanced training program on NRW management in Manila. 7 webinars were planned to begin with 2 on sanitation as follows:

Improving Efficiency of Wastewater Treatment, November 16, 2021
Digital Transformation for Water and Sanitation Utilities, October 21, 2020

The webinars were well received and drew over 100 participants. As such, the partners agreed to design and deliver a 5-Webinar series on Digital Transformation. These webinars were very successful drawing between 80 – 200 participants. The webinars were:

Introducing Digital Transformation: Applications; Costs; and Benefits, September 9, 2020
Detecting Leaks – The Digital Way, September 23, 2020
Digital Applications to Reduce Commercial Water Losses, October 7, 2020
Towards a Digital Integrated Water Meter Management, May 19, 2020
Applying Digital Technology for Asia’s Sanitation Management, May 19, 2020

For each of the webinars, WaterLinks drew on its extensive network of international experts on water and sanitation while Xylem provided sector experts and on-ground experience.

NRW Training Program SUPPORTED BY XYLEM USA

^{NRW Management Training for Indonesian Water Utilities, Jakarta, Indonesia, September 2019.}

Xylem Inc., USA, is the world’s largest water data analytics company. It offers a range of technologies to improve water service efficiencies and adopts a development perspective. Water Links and Xylem signed a partnership agreement in early 2019 to jointly design and conduct a series of NRW training programs. Two programs – one introductory and the other advanced – in the Philippines and an introductory program in Indonesia were envisaged.

The introductory program in Manila was held in 2019. It had 45 participants. Miya, a specialized NRW company with headquarters in Spain, provided faculty, with support from Xylem and Maynilad Water Services.

^{Group Photo of NRW Management Training in Manila, Philippines 2019.}

The introductory program in Jakarta was held in September 2019 in partnership with PERPAMSI, the Indonesian Association of water utilities. It had 30 participants representing 25 PDAMs, with Miya and Xylem as the key faculty. Both programs are a blend of classwork and site visits.

NRW Training for Tamil Nadu Engineers

_{Water Engineers from Tamil Nadu, India for NRW Training in Manila, February 2019.}

In February 2018, WaterLinks signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tamil Nadu Water Investment Corporation, India, to train 180 water engineers and officials from Tamil Nadu, India in the area of NRW management. It was agreed to build the capacity of 7 batches of engineers at middle and senior levels through an introductory program in NRW Management. 4 batches have been trained including 2 in 2019 with each batch comprising 25-30 participants. The remaining 3 batches could not be completed because of the lockdowns imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

WaterLinks has partnered with Maynilad WaterServices Inc. Philippines to deliver the training programs through a mix of lectures, case-work, group discussions, and field visits.

^{Maynilad with the Tamil Nadu Engineers, September. 2019}

CITYWIDE INCLUSIVE SANITATION (CWIS) CONVENING IN MANILA

_{Field visit to Laguna Water’s Wastewater Treatment Plant, Philippines, December 2018 .}

In 2018 WaterLinks was engaged by the Bill&Melinda GatesFoundation to design and deliver a week-long global conference on Citywide Inclusive Sanitation in Manila in December 2018. The conference had 140 participants and included practitioners, think tanks, international finance institutions, and partners of the Foundation from 22 countries.

Workshops, lectures, panel discussions, and field visits to fecal sludge management facilities in urban centers neighboring MetroManila formed the core of the conference. WaterLinks also provided the Foundation with a strategy for scaling up citywide inclusive sanitation in partnership with a broad spectrum of stakeholders.

^{Field visit to Manila Water’s Olandes Wastewater Treatment Plant, Philippines, December 2018.}

Improving Climate Resilience of Water Utilities in the Pacific Islands

^{Training on CCA for Pacific Utilities, Water Authority of Fiji, Suva, Fiji 19 – 22 June 2017}

WaterLinks developed a programmatic training program on Climate ChangeAdaptation for threePacific utilities – Water Authority of Fiji; WaterPNG; and SamoaWater Authority (SWA). Sydney Water Corporation (SWC) served as mentor/trainer together with Climate Risk, a consulting firm that has developed the AdaptWater Tool together with SWC. The objective of the training was to build climate-resilient water utilities in the Pacific.

The main output of the training was the development of (i) Vulnerability Assessment Reports and, (ii) Climate Risk Registers by each participating utility. AdaptWater also modeled climate scenarios based on data provided by SWA and helped SWA in prioritizing infrastructure projects taking costs and risks into account.

^{Training on CCA for Pacific Utilities, Sydney Water Corporation, Australia, 23-26 October 2017}