Clean Water for All - Overcoming Adversity to Satisfy Customers and Return a Profit

Is it possible for a third-world country with few resources to provide a clean, timely and affordable supply of drinking water to an entire city, and still make a profit? This is what has been achieved by the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority (PPWSA). They are the financially independent public enterprise responsible for providing citizens of the Kingdom of Cambodia’s capital city with potable drinking water.

Decades of conflict under the Khmer Rouge left the Phnom Penh infrastructure, including its blueprints, completely destroyed. Some areas suffered from up to 75% Non-Revenue Water (NRW). This left the PPWSA facing one of the most challenging situations in modern history of water supply.

Fast-forward to 2016 - their water loss is 5.9% and they are aiming to reach <5% by the year 2020 – a rate comparable with Tokyo and Singapore. They have achieved 100% metered connections, 91% coverage and are compliant with 100% of the World Health Organisations (WHO) drinking water standards. This has all been achieved in a country classified as more corrupt than the Democratic Republic of the Congo and poorer than Bangladesh.

This paper shares the reform process undertaken by PPSWA that has catapulted a war-torn dilapidated water utility into an efficient and profit making one.