Indicators for produced and billed water

Albania is country with a great number of natural water sources, nonetheless 20% of its citizens still do not receive water. The average capacity of these drinking water sources is estimated at about 654 million cubic meters, whereas only about 292 million cubic meters of water gets produced. In other words only 44% of potential sources is being exploited.

^{Source: General Directory of water and sewerage systems (GDWSS)
Comments and analysis: ODA}

On the other hand, in our country we produce more water than is needed which means that the rest is wasted. Furthermore only 36.8% of the produced water, or 44.7% of the water that is demanded by the population is billed (collected).

^{Source: General Directory of water and sewerage systems (GDWSS)
Comments and analysis: ODA}

These numbers are indeed alarming since only about 37% of the used water is billed. The 63% figure of unbilled water includes also the “real loss” coming as a result of the system’s configuration. This loss is considered normal when in the neighborhood of 20-25% of the quantity produced , however, presently only  2 companies have this indicator at this level. The rest of the losses are primarily related to the illegal connections or the high level amortization of the water supply pipes.

^{Source: General Directory of water and sewerage systems (GDWSS)
Comments and analysis: ODA}

If we were to analyze the trend of the quantities of water that is produced, sold, and unbilled during the last 5 years, the graph would look as below.

^{Source: General Directory of water and sewerage systems (GDWSS)
Comments and analysis: ODA}

As shown in the graph, the quantity of produced water has declined each year and in 2010 it was 15.6% lower than in 2006. This trend could be considered positive since the qunatity produced is higher than the estimated demand, underscoring the fact that the quantity wasted has declined. Meanwhile, the trend of water sold points out year 2008 as the most problematic given that approximately 72% of water produced was not billed.

Such negative trend started in 2006, when the level of non-revenue generating water produced was 63.6%. After 2008 a slight improvement is noticeable in terms of water billed vs water produced, and only in 2010 the water sector did manage to reach the 2006 figures. During these 5 years, the performance of the sector has remained virtually unchanged, essentially making one step forward one step back.