CCL: “Unbilled water in Sedapal reaches 28.9% and in EPS of other sizes it exceeds 40%”

The National Sanitation Plan 2022-2026 (PNS) prepared by the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation (MVCS) estimates that the infrastructure gap, understood as the investment required to achieve universal access to sanitation services, reaches a value of almost S/ 100,000 million by the year 2030. Lima Chamber of Commerce (CCL) made a balance in this regard.

According to information collected by the Institute of Economy and Business Development (IEDEP) of the CCL, in the urban areawith populations of more than 15,001 inhabitants, the service is provided by 50 sanitation service providers (EPS), which add up to 3.7 million connections and which, in terms of population, mean around 20.4 million people.

These companies are classified into 15 small (up to 15,000 connections), 16 medium (from 15,001 to 40,000 connections), 18 large (from 40,001 to one million connections) and Sedapal (more than one million connections).

It should be noted that, according to INEI figures, in urban areas 87% of the population accesses the public sewerage network, while in rural areas the rate is 22%. However, these averages drop to 82.3% and 21.3% when asked if the installation is located inside the home.

CCL: 28.9% of Sedapal’s water is not invoiced

In the urban area, with a population between 2,000 and 1,500 inhabitants (and even in populated centers with more than 15,000 inhabitants, but which are outside the EPS), the service is provided by 403 providers, of which 67.5% are municipalities, 26% are community organizations, 2.5% specialized operators and 4% others. In this sense, it is proposed to continue with the integration of these providers to the scope of the EPS.

“EPS management still has a lot of room for improvement. With figures from Sunass, as of the third quarter of 2021 it is verified that non-invoiced water (proportion of the volume of drinking water produced that is not invoiced) in Sedapal reaches 28.9% and in EPS of other sizes it exceeds 40%.”, points out the IEDEP.

Likewise, micrometering (proportion of drinking water connections that have an operational and read meter installed) in Sedapal reaches 88%, while in large and medium-sized EPSs they average 65% and in small EPSs they barely border on 40%.

In rural areas, with a population of up to 2,000 inhabitants, the provision of the service is provided by 27,000 entities in charge of the administration, operation and maintenance of water services and sanitary disposal of excreta, of which 92.4% are organizations communal.

CCL: only 77.5% of urban water is treated

In this sense, the PNS proposes investments that add up to S/ 70,000 million by the year 2030, of which around S/ 45,000 million correspond to expansion of coverage, while S/ 25,000 million would go to improvement, rehabilitation and replacement. In this way, the infrastructure gap would be reduced to S/ 30,000 million by the year 2030.

from Congress

An important part of the gap lies in the need to Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP), considering that in the urban area only 77.5% of collected wastewater receives prior treatment to be discharged to a receiving body or to be reused in irrigation.

“For this reason, in recent years the participation of the private sector has been promoted in Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects such as the Taboada, La Chira and Provisur WWTPs, which are in operation; and the Titicaca WWTP, which is under construction”, refers the CCL.

CCL: co-financed and self-financed

The Multiannual Report on Investments in Public-Private Partnerships 2020-2022 of the MVCS prioritizes 18 projects valued at S/ 8,193 million (including VAT).

These projects are distributed in 12 regions of the country, they are expected to finish being built between 2023-2025 and whose concession terms vary between 10 and 30 years. These works will benefit more than 10 million inhabitants.

the block of co-financed projects It is made up of 13 works valued at S/ 3,512 million, including the Puerto Maldonado, Huancayo, Trujillo-Chepén, Cusco, Cajamarca, Chincha, Chiclayo-Lambayeque-Ferreñafe, Huaraz, Tarapoto-San José de Sisa, Cañete WWTPs. Likewise, they include the Cajamarca Drinking Water Treatment Plant (PTAP), Ilo Desalination Plant, Rural Sanitation Communities of Loreto.

the block of self-financed projects It is made up of five works, under the scope of Sedapal, valued at S/ 4,682 million. These are Lima headwater works (included in the National Infrastructure Plan for Competitiveness), Lima Norte desalination plant project, Lima Sur desalination project, Sanitation for Lima Norte and Sanitation for Lima Sur.

CCL: And how is Proinversión doing?

Regarding the progress of the projects, Proinversión informs in its Project Portfolio of November 2021 that the works with award milestones are the Puerto Maldonado WWTP and Lima header works for the first and third quarters of 2022, respectively.

Meanwhile, the works with a declaration of interest are the Huancayo and Chincha WWTPs for the third and fourth quarters of 2022, respectively. For their part, the PTAR Trujillo, Cajamarca, Cañete, Cusco, Tarapoto, Loreto Rural Sanitation, Ilo and Lambayeque Desalination Plants are considered to be maturing projects.

The data

• The INEI National Survey of Budgetary Programs reveals that, for the moving year October 2020-September 2021, in urban areas 92.9% of the population that consumes water comes from the public network, while in rural areas the rate is 76.6%. However, these figures drop to 87.2% and 68.4% when asked if access is every day of the week.
• In 2015, the international community incorporated as one of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 to “guarantee the availability of water, its sustainable management and sanitation for all”.