French-funded study to update water supply system

TIRANA, Feb. 1 – The French government has awarded a 450,000 euro grant to help Albania meet EU standards when implementing water projects and establish a modern drinking water and sewerage network.
The grant will be used to carry out a study on the update of the technical standards on the treatment, transport and distribution of water, which date back to 36 years ago.
The study will focus on all elements of water supply system, such as resources, treatment, distribution, sewage plants including equipment, materials, and methods and monitoring.
The deal was signed on Tuesday by Albanian Public Works Minister Sokol Olldashi and French Ambassador to Tirana Maryse Daviet.
The study will be carried out by the French based International Office for Water in cooperation with the Saur company.
The aid by the French Finance Ministry under the Fund for Assistance to the Private Sector (FASEP) is the first of this kind France has awarded to the problematic Albanian water sector, showing its commitment to Albania’s development and EU integration.
According to the World Bank, inefficiencies in water distribution and management remain a chronic problem in Albania where the national average of water supply is 13 hours per day, non-revenue water at alarming rates and with only 44% of household connections metered on average nationally, thus discouraging sound water demand management.
Data show Albania is endowed with an estimated 8,600 m3 per capita per year in water resources – an enviable position from the vantage point of many countries. Current utilization rate is estimated at only 6% annually. The country has relatively high access to water in urban municipalities at 90%, but much lower access to piped water connections in rural municipalities at 58%. Corresponding sewerage coverage is 68% urban and 2% rural. The World Bank says the situation is a result of insufficient prioritization and policy direction, insufficient national investment and poor targeting of the rural and poor households, weak institutional capacity, lack of accountability and incentives for water service providers, weak data collection and analysis to inform policy.