Interview with Ravindra Nanga, Chairman, Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago

16 Mar Interview with Ravindra Nanga, Chairman, Water and Sewerage Authority of Trinidad and Tobago

WASA was formed in 1965 by merging several distinct water systems, but the country’s needs have changed significantly since then. Can you provide an overview of WASA’s main operations, recent milestones, achievements and notable initiatives?

One significant issue we have always faced is unauthorized development. Due to bureaucratic delays in Trinidad and Tobago, such as lengthy planning permission processes, some individuals proceed with construction and connection to a water supply without the requisite approval. This has led to cases where buildings are constructed over our transmission and sewer lines, creating operational challenges.

Another concern arises when homeowners, not consulting WASA first, make illegal connections, often due to corrupt practices. These unauthorized developments and connections complicate our operations and hinder effective service provision. Since our board’s appointment in December 2020, we have been given a mandate to address issues plaguing WASAby the current government, which has been in place since 2015. They recognized that WASA is a financial drain, costing the government nearly $2 billion annually, with little return on investment. To address these challenges, a cabinet subcommittee was formed to evaluate WASA’s operations, leading to the appointment of a new board. We were provided with a report detailing major deficiencies, identifying three potential paths: closing WASA to create a new entity, privatization or restructuring. However, given the vital nature of water and wastewater services, neither closing nor privatizing WASA was deemed feasible.

At our first board meeting, we realized we could not manage WASA solely from the boardroom. While a board’s role is typically strategic, we were required to be both strategic and operational due to a lack of trust in the manner in which the Authority was being managed. Our board consists of highly competent persons, with expertise in law, business, finance, engineering and human resources. Despite our intentions, progress was slow in the first six months, with little change. For the first time in recent history, we replaced the entire top executive team, from the CEO to the directors which was done in July 2021, and we had an entirely new executive in place.

What systemic and operational changes have you put in place to improve WASA?

To give one example of what we have been fixing, WASA acquired GPS units for its vehicles to enhance accountability. These units allow us to track vehicle locations, but when we inquired about their installation, we were told they had not been installed. Each board meeting yielded excuses and we eventually learned that the GPS units had been purchased two years ago and their batteries were dead. Once we installed the new executive team, the GPS units were installed and operational within two months.

Shortly after, we faced a crisis at the Caroni Water Treatment Plant when a transmission line failure affected 500,000 people. While troubleshooting, we were told that although we had pipes in stock, a reported fire had damaged the seals, making them unusable. However, upon investigation, we found there was no fire and the pipes were in fact in good condition, highlighting our lack of reliable information.

Now, with the Community Water Improvement Program (CWIP) initiated by the Honourable Minister of Public Utilities, we are addressing underserved communities that receive water only once every nine days or every 18 days if they miss that schedule. Since 2020, we have completed over 200 projects, improving water access for over 200,000 people, many of whom are receiving a reliable water supply for the first time. Initially, we found that many at WASA were resistant to change, as the existing system worked for some individuals. However, while some employees opposed transformation, others recognized the progress and supported our efforts. Since 2020, we have identified reliable team members within WASA, understanding that bringing in an entirely new team would risk losing valuable institutional knowledge. Two years ago, we sought to recruit nine key positions, including the CEO and eight directors and are pleased to announce that Mr. Halliday from the Barbados Water Authority will be the new CEO.

The structure that was in place saw one director of operations responsible for Trinidad and Tobago. We have now divided Trinidad into four management areas and established a separate management area for Tobago. Our new structure includes five directors of water management, a director of Human Resources, Transformation and Corporate Services, a director of corporate finance and, for the first time, a director of technology, future systems abd sustainability, Ms. Alisha Romano. She has already begun the journey towards digitalization and the creation of a smart water network with the commissioning of the Operation Control Center (OCC). The transformation process is ongoing and while we initially planned to recruit only the directors, we decided to recruit the assistant directors as well. We launched an aggressive recruitment drive and are finalizing 23 assistant director positions, pending ministerial approval, all set to start on December 1. After successfully recruiting the assistant directors, we plan to fill the next two levels of the Executive with acting appointments internally while we consult with the relevant union and embark upon a recruitment drive.

Our new organizational structure now includes the CEO, directors, assistant directors, team leads and sector leads, reducing our executive management from 429 to just under 200, creating a leaner and more efficient organization. One benefit of establishing five districts is that directors will now compete against each other, with KPIs in place for the first time at WASA. This means that we can hold the directors accountable for performance, monitoring their progress monthly to ensure they meet their KPIs. The CWIP has been a tremendous success. We focus on low-cost, high-impact projects to serve the most vulnerable communities and most of these projects have been completed under budget and on time, which was previously unheard of at WASA.

Can you outline the CWIP in more detail and comment on larger scale projects funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

CWIP is an internal capital expenditure project led by the Honourable Minister, focusing on vulnerable communities’ access to water. For instance, by modeling our current infrastructure in the south, we transformed areas with water access once in every nine days to 24/7 service at minimal cost. We also have the National Water Stabilization and Improvement Plan (NWSIP), which addresses larger projects nationwide rather than specific challenging areas. NWSIP will be funded through the Public Sector Investment Program and includes pipe replacements within our aging infrastructure.

The IDB projects are large-scale initiatives, including refurbishments of the Caroni and North Oropouche Water Treatment Plants, as well as the construction of new water treatment facilities and additional pipe replacements. These projects aim to stabilize and improve water production and transmission. We commissioned our OCC in July, enhancing digitalization and moving towards a smart water network. The OCC provides us for the first time with the ability to monitor our system. With the installation of bulk meters, this allows us to monitor water volumes and identify pressure drops thus alerting us to problems on our system. We have started automating control of select valves remotely. Recently, at the commissioning of the OCC a Ministerial team visited the OCC and two ministers successfully turned a valve on and off from our new OCC in St. Joseph.

How does WASA win external financing?

The IDB loan consists of three packages and we are progressing with the first one. All approvals are in place, tenders have been issued, although one encountered a snag and is back out for tendering. The first loan is for $80 million and we are about to engage the IDB for the second loan, which will likely cover the remainder. The British High Commission has invited us to a trade mission in November and the deputy chairman, Mr Alston Fournillier will represent the Authority. This mission could lead to financing opportunities and introductions to new technology in the United Kingdom.

Additionally, we are exploring collaboration with the Development Bank of Latin America to fund our ongoing projects. When we took office, WASA’s contract execution record was poor, often returning unspent funds to the Treasury. Last year, we surpassed our sister utility, the Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) in project execution. This year, we utilized our entire budgetary allocation requiring us to slow down certain projects until the new budget was approved. To address the challenges that we faced in the past, we established the Project Execution Unit, led by a consultant and comprising both external specialists and internal personnel seconded to the unit. This team has successfully met IDB requirements and kept us on schedule.

What technological changes are improving WASA?

When we started, there was a backlog of about 5,000 leaks. While leaks will continue due to our aging infrastructure, we have cleared the backlog and currently have around 700-800 island-wide. The OCC has helped us develop a tracking system where employees can click on a report to view the status and duration of leaks. Next month, we will roll out a new app that will allow citizens to report leaks by taking a picture, which will be geotagged and entered into our system. Users will receive a tracking number for their reports, enabling them to monitor the progress of repairs. We are aiming for a response time of 48 hours or less; if it exceeds that time frame, we will investigate what is the cause of the delay. The app will also let users request a truck borne supply of water if they are out of service and track that request. Additionally, once our app launches, fewer customers will need to contact us directly. We are also partnering with the Telecommunications Service of Trinidad and Tobago in order to improve our interaction with our customer database, allowing us to send push notifications. For example, if there is scheduled maintenance in Port of Spain, we will notify affected residents in advance, reducing complaints about unexpected water disruptions.

When we started, calling WASA often meant being on hold for over an hour. Now, with the intervention of our deputy chairman, the wait time has reduced to an average of just 13 to 15 seconds, where you speak directly to a person rather than a machine. We are not done yet as we plan to automate the call center further to reduce in-person interaction, limiting interaction to only when it is absolutely necessary.

Is WASA using drones as well?

WASA already has drones for monitoring issues like illegal water extraction, but we plan to expand their use. With the OCC, we can effectively monitor our network, paving the way for drone implementation which will give much greater accountability through investments and automation. We are now equipping our technical officers with tablets to log their work in real time, enabling us to track operations. If a valve is supposed to be turned on, we expect to see confirmation within 5-10 minutes, and if we do not get the confirmation we will follow up. Additionally, the OCC allows us to monitor and manage pressure within the system. Proper pressure management can assist in reduction and prevention of leaks caused by shocks during valving. For instance, during peak evening hours when water demand increases, we can maintain high pressures. Then, as water usage drops at night, we can reduce pressure in order to save energy and the life of the pumps. The OCC will help us manage our carbon footprint by regulating water supply based on demand, ensuring industrial areas receive consistent supply while residential and light commercial areas get adjusted service based on need.

We are conducting an island-wide survey in order to address issues related to illegal connections and incorrect customer classifications. For instance, when someone builds a house, they may apply for a “garden tap” connection for construction purposes. Once the house is completed, they should transition to a residential account. However, many do not follow up, resulting in lost revenue for WASA. Additionally, if someone opens a business in a residential building without notifying us, they remain classified incorrectly. This survey will help reclassify customers accurately and address illegal connections, ultimately improving our revenue which will also lead to an improvement in service levels. The survey also enhances our database. For example, if a customer reports an issue, our system can quickly identify their location and status. This allows us to inform them of expected restoration times, thereby improving our overall level of service.

Water meters will soon be installed across Trinidad. Is there a plan in place for this and how can we promote a conservation mindset to encourage reduced water usage, as this hasn’t been a strong practice here?

For the first time, we improved water supply in certain areas, but we noticed that some residents, after getting water, began wasting it by washing down driveways for example. While nearly all our industrial and commercial customers are metered, we faced challenges during the COVID pandemic, which affected our ability to source a bulk supply of meters. Currently, we are unable to obtain enough residential meters, which remains an ongoing project. Our new policy mandates metering for all new connections — industrial, commercial, and residential.

To streamline disconnections for non-payment, we will install meters that make this process easier. Our goal is universal metering, which we estimate will take about five years to achieve given current availability of funding and meters. We will reassess this timeline after completing our customer survey and securing the necessary funding for the meters. WASA inherited a significant amount of poor-quality materials, which led to leaks shortly after connections were made, when they should last for 20 years. We are now focusing on procuring higher-quality materials, even if they are slightly more expensive upfront it will save us money in the long run.

Smart metering will enable us to monitor water usage effectively. We aim to achieve similar monitoring capabilities to T&TEC, which allow users to track electricity consumption online and set usage limits. With universal metering, we can identify abnormal usage patterns and notify customers. Although there are constraints to the rollout, we are working to implement universal metering as efficiently as possible, linking it to our OCC.

The country spent nearly $90 million on desalination last year and reservoirs are struggling to reach long-term averages because rainfall is shifting further west due to climate change. With less rain entering the reservoirs, are you considering capturing more water in the west where rainfall is occurring?

A study had previously been conducted on building reservoir capacity in western Trinidad and I have asked the team to revisit it. For instance, we are considering a dam in Ravine Sable to capture rainwater, especially since it often flows out to sea. It’s absurd to let fresh rainwater go to waste when I have to pay to desalinate seawater. We are actively exploring options to expand reservoir capacity due to the current weather patterns. While desalination is currently expensive, advancements in technology have reduced desalination costs since the construction of the DESALCOTT and Seven Seas Plants.

As part of the IDB project, WASA is looking to invest in modular water treatment plants. These plants can be delivered in containers, allowing us to set up a desalination facility within six months. Given the current situation we have issued emergency tenders in order to acquire six modular desalination plants. Rather than outsourcing, we plan to build our own desalination plants. While we are still finalizing the model, we may consider an “operate and maintain” approach for the first year to learn the technology. Despite concerns about the costs of desalination, technological advancements have made it more feasible. In addition we are also focusing on groundwater expansion to supplement our supply during the rainy season when turbidity affects surface water quality. Last year, we successfully desilted the Hillsborough Dam in Tobago, restoring lost capacity. Given shifting weather patterns, increasing capacity in Trinidad’s reservoirs, which are currently at only 44% is not practical at this time. Instead, we aim to capture more rainwater before it becomes saline and pursue opportunities for new reservoirs.

What is your message to international investors?

All this progress comes at a cost and we are grateful for our partnership with the IDB and the invitation from the British High Commission. We welcome investors from Florida to explore public-private partnerships. WASA had a poor reputation, but that is behind us. Our doors are now open for business. The National Gas Company (NGC) previously sought to partner with us, but were declined. However, we now have a memorandum of understanding in place. When we faced the catastrophic event at the Caroni plant, NGC was on-site assisting us.

Additionally, BPTT is working with us to establish a memorandum of understanding. I admire BP’s commitment to corporate social responsibility in reaching out. With the recent changes at WASA, more partners are interested in collaborating with us, as they recognize our improved operations and technological focus. We welcome any assistance to move forward.