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Between February 2022 and March 2023, the Nakuru Rural Water and Sanitation Company (NARUWASCO) implemented a non-revenue water (NRW) reduction project to address extremely high levels of water loss in its service area. At the start of the project, NRW stood at 50% across the utility’s jurisdiction and reached 75% in the western region. NRW includes both physical losses, such as leaks and bursts, and commercial losses, such as theft or metering errors. The project focused on tackling these issues through infrastructure repairs and improved monitoring to increase overall system efficiency. For the CAP calculations only, the physical losses are considered, this represents the actual volume lost from the system
Quantifying the Impact
The impact of the project was assessed using Credit Aqua Positive (CAP) calculations under both the Water Footprint Network (WFN) and ISO 14046 methodologies, 1CAP represents 1000 m3. Using the WFN method, the project achieved 5.5 CAPs annually and 27.3 CAPs over five years, at a cost of €5,455.20 per CAP.
The ISO 14046 method reported higher outcomes, with 7.80 CAP equivalents annually and 39.0 CAP equivalents over five years, at a cost of €3,820.10per CAP equivalents.
The CAP yield was modest compared to the investments and this reflects that much of the NRW was commercial, which is not credited under CAP methodologies.
Social and Environmental Co-Benefits
Beyond the direct water savings, the project generated valuable social and environmental co-benefits. It created local employment opportunities through repair and maintenance activities, reduced energy consumption associated with water abstraction and pumping and helped limit pressure on local water resources. Enhanced monitoring also strengthened operational capacity, enabling more effective management of the system.
Looking Ahead
The NARUWASCO project shows how early-stage NRW reduction efforts can lay a strong foundation for long-term water savings and utility performance improvements. At the same time, the findings point to key opportunities for the future. Moving away from percentage-based NRW reporting toward the Infrastructure Leakage Index would provide a more accurate benchmark for performance. Prioritising physical loss reduction in upcoming phases would significantly increase CAP yields and improve cost efficiency.