So, day 2 of the 3-day conference is over. We're sitting outside and talk about how everyone experienced today. Just for explanation: World Waternet is currently working on a project in which three Egyptian water companies, Beheira Water And Drainage Company (BWADC), Alexandria Water Company and Damietta Water And Wastewater Company, are learning how to cooperate. Until now, they were busy with their own business. Partly due to this project, the companies realize that they are not competitors of each other, but colleagues. That they often face the same problems, and that they can also learn from each other! They have been working together on a huge range of topics. The most important ones are: drinking water, and distribution, sanitation and sewerage, communications, personnel management, ... Read more
Damanhur, Egypt, Sunday eve, THE eve of the Dutch national team. After a sandwich shoarma at Abu Rabi fast food corner we go quickly to the stadium. Stadium? Yes, stadium. Not in the stadium itself, but in the streets around the stadium it is full of coffee shops. Hundreds of people sit down on terraces for TVs and large screens. It seems to be the Leidseplein in Amsterdam, though a little less orange. We wear our bright orange shirts and we brought our orange flags to decorate the streets. Enthusiastic kids want to blow our vuvuzela and want to take pictures with us. "Holland? Holland? " " Yes, we are from Holland. " " Wow, you are in the final! "
Everyone is a bit jealous at us. Football is important here. Unfortunately, Egypt, winner of the Africa ... Read more
That's not a question for the water companies in Egypt: they have to build. The population in Egypt increases every nine months by one million. More people means more water and more waste water. It is hard to keep up. New waste and drinking water treatments, new networks and new laboratories appear almost every month. The investments are appointed by a large central government. In practice this means many years on a waiting list, and again many years of haggling before a new plant actually is designed, procured, constructed and transferred. It drives you crazy. Fortunately, the water companies get into control more and more, which usually makes the process much faster. Also because the chair person visits the construction site frequently and encourages people to work fast.
Every f... Read more
Today is Friday, weekend in Egypt. Finally some time to relax, and to a put some things on paper. The mission report, recommendations for the companies here, a proposal for a workshop / symposium and of course this text for the World Waternet website.
At the moment we are with five people in Damanhur, a city in the middle of the Nile Delta: Kees van der Drift for water distribution, Loek Stam continuity management, Kees van Beek (KWR) for groundwater, Ramon Imamdi (HWL) for the laboratory and myself for drinking water production.
A short impression of a part of this mission
The day before yesterday we drove in a minibus from our guesthouse in Damanhur to Damietta. Departure at six o'clock in the morning, and together with some employees of the water company from Dama... Read more
Our taxi is searching its way through the dense traffic. We are taken over by a dark-smoking truck at our right, while at the same time an SUV just misses us on the left. Packed at the back of a Cairo cab, we are discussing today’s program. At the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation (MWRI), we will talk about a Water Operators Partnership (WOP) between six Egyptian and three Dutch partners. The idea is to initiate a long term relation between nine partners, share experiences and learn from each other. World Waternet, represented by Paul Bonne and Koen Maathuis, assists in the formulation of an action plan for the coming three years.
Within the partnership, we focus on water quality improvement. In the Nile-Delta and the Fayoum region, wastewater causes p... Read more
On 29 October 2009 World Waternet and the Moroccan water cycle company ONEP (Office National de l’Eau Potable) signed a cooperation agreement. This event was witnessed by the World Waternet’s Egyptian partners, the water cycle company Beheira Water and Drainage Company and the Holding Company for Water and Waste Water, and the Netherlands Embassy in Rabat. This agreement fits into a larger picture and calls for more detailed explanation. What is the case?
The African Triangle
In 2010, apart from the existing links, World Waternet intends to focus on countries on the African continent in order to help them attain the Millennium Development Goals. Especially on this continent there is a great backlog in achieving Millennium Development Goal No. 7, access to drinking w... Read more
Damanhur, Egypt, Sunday evening eight o’clock:
We, Marleen Jekel, Loek Stam and Rene van der Aa, are visiting the headoffice of Beheira Water and Drainage Company.
Our intention is to have a talk with Mahmoud Mansour, director of the water company (drinking-water, drain water and sewage) of Beheira, a province in the Nile delta.
In the office of his secretary are about 5 people walking around. The secretary wants to bring us immediately into the room of Mansour but we see that he is in a meeting and decide that it is more polite to wait until he is ready to receive us.
After 5 minutes the big boss Mansour, comes to pick us up and welcomes us warmly. We take a seat on the chic black leather couch in his spacious boardroom. Coffee and tea are served and in a pleasant conve... Read more
As usual, we were warmly welcomed at the Water supply company of Kabupaten Tangerang. It feels very familiar to be back again.
During this mission Rene and Ron will keep themselves occupied with the Geographic Information System, whilst Teun is teaming up with the Unaccounted for Water (UFW) team in the district of Banten.
The PDAM’s (Water supply companies) are all aware of the fact that the UFW has to be decreased to acceptable standards. In some areas, companies deal with UFW of more than 50%: over 50% of the produced water, is not being charged. Setting up and execute UFW projects have already resulted in positive outcomes; in some areas it has been reduced to nearly 0 %.
The need of equipment such as distribution- water meters, dataloggers and valves are an ... Read more
During my first visit to Suriname I got acquainted with the people with whom I was going to work and learnt to know the cultural traditions and manner working in Suriname. During the visits with people from the Ministry of Public Works, to discuss a number of reports on the situation in Suriname, I gained a fair understanding of the technical problems in a canal in Paramaribo called the “Sommelsdijckskreek”. The Sommelsdijckskreek is a drainage canal, which does not work properly and has a very poor water quality. Remarkably there was a lot of information for me to study. Even specifications for implementation of civil works for improvement of the drainage situation were available! Nevertheless hardly any action had been carried out to improve the situation.
To preven... Read more
In Tangerang more than 40 % of the inhabitants have no access to clean tap water and sanitary facilities. This mission we are giving shape to the new Water Operator Partnership in cooperation with the local government and are focussing on an integral approach. One of the activities of the new partnership will be the improvement of the sanitary and drinking water conditions in a certain part in Tangerang. According to recent research, there is a continuous threat of the breakout of deceases such as bird influenza or other epidemic deceases related to water. Safe tap water and sanitation are inseparably connected to each other. The supply of tap water creates a sanitation problem that needs to be solved. Inadequate sanitation is a risk for health and in this respect sanitation comprises wast... Read more
I came back from Nickerie last Saturday where we cooperate with the Dutch Waterboard Rijn & IJssel to set up waterboards in Suriname. We advise the Suriname coordinating waterboard MCP about a possible approach to this issue.
After brainstorming on the subject we have now agreed that MCP will provide a project proposal shortly. Upon my return in Paramaribo I’ve been in touch with the Dutch Ambassador Tanja van Gool and her employee Alexandra Valkenburg. They were very pleased to learn that we are willing to support MCP in the future.
Currently minister Koenders is in Suriname, where he will pay a visit to Richelieu next Wednesday, the housingproject in which the City of Amsterdam had a major contribution. Later this week he will visit “our&rdquo... Read more
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Field notes
Suitcases full of compliments
14.10.2010
So, day 2 of the 3-day conference is over. We're sitting outside and talk about how everyone experienced today. Just for explanation: World Waternet i...
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