Chattogram Wasa: ‘Tk 100cr lost every year to ‘system loss’

In the last fiscal year, 30 percent of Chattogram Wasa’s water was wasted, resulting in significant revenue loss.
Its system loss has doubled in the past decade, up from 15.24 percent in 2013-14 fiscal year.
However, many of its customers are being billed for more water than they actually use.
According to its annual report, Chattogram Wasa produced 176,511 million litres of water in 2023-24, but lost revenue from 52,962 million litres, categorised as Non-Revenue Water (NRW).
With an average tariff of Tk 19.37 per 1,000 litres, the agency lost over Tk 100 crore in potential revenue.
The NRW or system loss refers to water that is either lost or unaccounted for after it is produced.
The system loss at Chattogram Wasa is the highest among the four state-run water supply agencies.
By comparison, Rajshahi and Khulna Wasa had system loss rates of 17.5 percent and 29 percent respectively in FY 23-24, while Dhaka Wasa’s NRW rate was 20 percent in 2021-2022, according to data from the respective agencies.
Despite spending an enormous Tk 6,336 crore on network expansion and pipeline replacement, Chattogram Wasa’s wastage continued to rise over the years.
Officials have attributed the huge revenue loss to leakages in the pipelines, illegal connections, and errors in metering.
Consumers and water resource experts have also blamed some unscrupulous Wasa staffers for stealing water by manipulating the metering system.
This wastage has also caused severe water supply shortages for many of Chattogram Wasa’s 89,508 customers.
“I get water once a week, but I still billed around Tk 600 every month under the minimum billing system,” said Habib Ullah, a resident of the port city’s Cement Crossing area.
Faruk Hossain, who lives in the Mokbul Ahmed Society area of Patenga, said people of his locality get water 8-10 times a month.
“We only receive 8-12 units [1 unit = 1,000 litres] of water each month, but we are being charged for 30 units under the average billing system,” said Faruk.
Sajjad Hossain, a revenue officer at Chattogram Wasa, acknowledged that many consumers are being billed for more water than they actually use.
Consumer rights activist SM Nazer Hossain said Wasa’s inefficiencies are placing a financial burden on customers who are forced to pay extra.
“System losses directly affect consumers. If these losses were reduced, Wasa would generate more revenue and wouldn’t need to hike prices,” said Nazer, vice president of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB).
He accused some unscrupulous Wasa staffers of manipulating meters to steal water.
“The system loss will persist unless authorities take firm action against those involved.”
Maksud Alam, chief engineer of Chattogram Wasa, admitted that metering errors are the primary way water is stolen.
“System loss occurs in all water supply agencies across the country, but we are working to reduce it to the ideal level,” he stated.
He said the internationally accepted NRW standard is 15 percent.
NEW PIPELINES FAIL TO REDUCE WASTAGE
To cut wastage, Chattogram Wasa replaced old pipelines stretching around 45 km under the Karnaphuli Water Supply Project (phase-1) at a cost of Tk 1,715 crore. The scheme was implemented with a loan of Tk 919 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Besides, old pipelines stretching 150 km were replaced under the Chittagong Water Supply Improvement and Sanitation Project at a cost of Tk 1,539 crore, with a Tk 1,265 crore loan from the World Bank.
The Karnaphuli Water Supply Project (phase-2) was carried out at a cost of Tk 3,082 crore to replace 700 km of pipelines, with another Tk 2,451 crore loan provided by the JICA.
These three projects were implemented between 2011 and 2023.
However, despite all these development works, at least 900 million litres of water worth Tk 25 crore is still wasted annually on average due to leakages in pipelines.
Asked why wastage continued to grow despite major development works, Maksud said, “The system loss from leakages in pipelines is 5 percent. The remaining 25 percent loss is caused by other issues that still need to be addressed.”
Muhammad Rashidul Hasan, head of the urban and regional planning department at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, attributed the huge water wastage to poor planning.
“Chattogram Wasa installed the new pipelines without proper planning, which has led to leakages again.”
Chattogram Wasa currently supplies around 45 crore litres of water daily through a 1,300km pipeline. However, 35-40 percent areas of the port city still remain out of its service network.