Country: Bangladesh
Client: Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority / Asian Development Bank (ADB)
Project consultant: Sweco Danmark A/S
Duration: 2009 – 2016
From 2009 to 2016, the Asian Development Bank financed a project in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where 95% of existing pipelines and all service connections were to be replaced in the city’s water distribution network (85 DMAs formed and 3.000+ km of pipes and 200.000+ house connections replaced). The project has reduced non-revenue water from 60% to below 10% and ensured a minimum pressure of 1 bar in all parts of the system 24/7. The project used trenchless technology, Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), and pipe bursting for nearly 90% of the pipe replacement and pipe installation; this ensured less excavation and thereby reduced construction costs and lessened disturbance to the citizens and local businesses. Furthermore, a design-build and performance based tender process was successfully used to manage implementing the project in relatively short time. The outcome of the Dhaka project has eliminated all the same problems which are now of major concern in Lahore city, satisfied customers, and increased the collection of water revenues 3-fold.
The Dhaka project has demonstrated in full – and very large – scale that it is possible to build a functional distribution system in an extremely difficult environment; using the alternative approach of assessing and re-designing the whole system holistically, rather than focusing on solving one problem at a time, where the number one problem always will be the inability to bring sufficient quantity of water to the beneficiaries and the solution is always considered to be development of more water resources.
The Project also included a Feasibility Study for the 500 MLD Khilkhet WTP, while the total project investment cost was $220 Million USD.
