The 2010 Global Water Awards:Public Water Agency of the Year

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For the public sector organization that has made the greatest contribution to meeting the challenges of water supply during 2009.

Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development, Egypt

What is it?
The agency responsible for infrastructure and urban development in Egypt.

What has it done?
The massive infrastructure requirements driven by the dual imperative of Egypt’s growing population and its urban development programme are nowhere greater than in the country’s wastewater sector. MHUUD awarded the flagship New Cairo PPP contract in 2009, guiding the project towards a successful financial close. The highly competitive tender process was praised as transparent, rigorous and bankable, and established a sound precedent for future Egyptian PPPs.

What makes it special?
* The successful procurement of the New Cairo wastewater project marked a key milestone in MHUUD’s effort to overhaul Egypt’s wastewater sector and reverse the effects of decades of underinvestment.
* MHUUD led a host of government ministries and their private partners in guiding Egypt’s first major PPP to financial close, thereby building confidence in the country’s broader PPP programme.
* MHUUD is not resting on its laurels, having already commenced the procurement process for two further major WWTP projects. It has also signalled its intention to expand Egypt’s PPP programme to include desalination.

Office National de l’Assainissement (ONAS), Tunisia

What is it?
Tunisia’s national wastewater agency, with additional responsibility for protecting the water resources of the country’s population of 10.3 million people.

What has it done?
ONAS has implemented a sweeping infrastructure programme that has put Tunisia on course to meet its target of reusing 60% of its wastewater by 2016 – a doubling of the current proportion. The agency has also explored new financing avenues: two 25-year BOT WWTP contracts are a crucial element of its plans for a north-south treated effluent transfer project. To fund the programme, ONAS has mobilised funding from a variety of sources to continue the sustainable expansion of Tunisia’s wastewater infrastructure.

What makes it special?
* ONAS is spearheading the push towards greater water reuse in North Africa. Its determination to develop the water reuse sector has made it an undisputed regional pioneer.
* Significant geographical challenges have simply made ONAS raise its game. Most of Tunisia’s wastewater is produced in the populated, industrial north, but the need for treated effluent is greatest in the arid central plains. A planned north-south effluent transfer project is a solution worthy of a world-class public water agency.
* In both industrial and municipal wastewater treatment, ONAS is embracing the type of linked-up thinking that wastewater utilities elsewhere in the Maghreb would do well to replicate.

San Diego Water Agencies

What are they?
The San Diego County Water Authority is the wholesale water supplier to three million residents through 24 member agencies in the San Diego region of Southern California. The City of San Diego Water Department provides water utility services to more than 1.3 million people.

What have they done?
SDCWA has continued to be an engine of innovation and diversification in one of the most water-starved, environmentally sensitive regions of the US, pursuing nonconventional water supply projects and leading water conservation efforts. During 2009, the City Department received approval for a pioneering indirect potable reuse demonstration project that could potentially open the way for a full-scale 660,000m3/d project. SDCWA was also instrumental in bringing the 189,250m3/d Carlsbad desalination plant to within a whisker of breaking ground; this is now scheduled for summer 2010.

What makes them special?
* Deficits in rainfall and the Sierra snowpack led Governor Schwarzenegger to proclaim a state-wide drought for the third consecutive year in 2008. SDCWA’s unwavering commitment to establish alternative water supply sources will ensure a safe and reliable water supply to San Diego County in 2010 and beyond.
* Regulatory restrictions on pumping from the Bay Delta in Northern California came into force in July 2009, resulting in a 13% cut in water deliveries to the San Diego region. SDCWA’s response was truly meritorious, encompassing a raft of actions to ameliorate the reduction in water deliveries.
* The City Water Department has built a coalition that has overcome San Diego City’s historical opposition to indirect potable reuse.

Sydney Water

What is it?
The water and wastewater utility for over four million consumers in Sydney, the Illawarra region, and the Blue Mountains.

What has it done?
Sydney Water has taken decisive action to drought-proof the water supply for Australia’s most populous city, whilst implementing a water conservation strategy that has yielded an 18% reduction in overall water consumption. The new 250,000m3/d SWRO desalination plant at Kurnell was commissioned on time and under budget, while Sydney Water continues to roll out an array of recycled water schemes, both public and private, that will meet up to 12% of greater Sydney’s water needs by 2015.

What makes it special?
* Securing greater Sydney’s long-term water supply required innovation across the board. Sydney Water’s strategic water resourcing vision has been delivered through dynamic public-private partnerships and public information programmes.
* Initiatives such as Australia’s largest residential recycled water scheme are nothing short of inspirational. On every environmental criterion, Sydney Water’s approach has been exemplary.
* Prolific energy consumption is inherent in the business of all water utilities, but Sydney Water is confronting that challenge with enterprise. Wind energy offsets, hydropower and bio-gas cogeneration are among the pillars of Sydney Water’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2020.