World Bank to help Azerbaijan reduce volume of non-revenue water

World Bank senior specialist on water supply and sanitation Smita Misra, speaking at an event dedicated to the technical assistance program for Azerbaijan, said the World Bank will help Azerbaijan reduce the volume of non-revenue water to 40 percent within the framework of the AZTAF program - flexible technical assistance tool for Azerbaijan, Azernews reports.

The specialist noted that it is planned to reduce the infrastructure leakage index from 16.4 to 8 and commercial losses from 5 percent to 0.7 percent.

"This requires a budget of $162,744,000 over five years, or $33 mln per year. This includes mixed financing, including public-private financing," she explained.

According to her, Azerbaijan needs to improve the rational planning and management of water reservoirs.

She emphasised that since Azerbaijan has limited water resources, there is a high dependence on water resources outside the country's territory.

"Droughts and floods pose a serious threat to water security. Water pollution problems are increasing. Mapping, monitoring, and analysis issues need to be addressed. There is a need to significantly improve the quality of services in the water supply and sanitation sector as well as in the irrigation sector," Misra added.