WATER WISDOM! Sierra Leone Bosses Tap NWSC Tricks to Fight Water Losses

By Evans Najuna

KAMPALA — Sierra Leone’s Guma Valley Water Company (GVWC) has turned to Uganda’s National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) to learn the tricks behind running an efficient water and sanitation utility, with a delegation led by Managing Director Mariwan Kallon embarking on a benchmarking tour of the corporation.

The visit is aimed at equipping the Sierra Leonean utility with practical lessons in water production and distribution, infrastructure management, revenue collection, customer care and the fight against non-revenue water.

But this is no ordinary courtesy call. The delegation is undertaking an intensive learning programme featuring technical presentations, departmental engagements and field visits designed to expose the team to NWSC’s operational systems and service delivery model.

The programme covers the entire water and sanitation value chain, including asset management, geographical information systems (GIS), water network maintenance, billing, meter management, wastewater treatment and services to low-income urban communities.

At the centre of the mission is NWSC’s experience in reducing non-revenue water — the water produced but lost or not billed before reaching consumers — through leak detection, meter management and improved water-loss prevention strategies.

The lessons are particularly relevant to Sierra Leone, where water supply and sewerage services operate under separate entities. Under the Freetown WASH and Aquatic Environment Revamping Project, GVWC manages water services, while sewerage services are handled by a different institution.

Against this background, the delegation is seeking to understand how NWSC coordinates its strategic planning, technical operations and customer service systems, with particular interest in the corporation’s experience in Kampala.

The team is also scheduled to examine NWSC’s water treatment processes, laboratory operations, service branch management, billing systems and revenue collection practices.

Another major area of interest is NWSC’s urban pro-poor service delivery model, which targets low-income communities that often struggle to access affordable and reliable water services.

The delegation hopes to identify approaches that can be adapted to improve water access for vulnerable communities in Freetown.

Beyond technical operations, the visitors are exploring how NWSC manages customer relations, stakeholder engagement and public communication — areas considered critical to winning community support for infrastructure projects and minimising resistance.

The exchange also places emphasis on the role of technology and effective communication in improving service delivery, strengthening accountability and building public confidence in water utilities.

As part of the programme, the delegation will attend an NWSC Baraza, an engagement platform that brings staff and management together to discuss operational challenges, share feedback and promote accountability.

The session is expected to provide the visitors with practical insights into NWSC’s approach to staff communication, leadership engagement and feedback management.

The benchmarking visit offers GVWC an opportunity to draw lessons from NWSC’s experience in managing a large urban water utility, as Sierra Leone seeks practical solutions to improve water service delivery and strengthen its water sector operations.