District metering areas establishment should be kept as simple as possible in developing country contexts while being cognizant of the local capacity to implement and sustain these areas. District metering areas (DMAs) are a tool to divide the water supply network into smaller areas to monitor flows, leaks, water consumption, and optimize operations. While DMAs offer important benefits for management of non-revenue water, it can be challenging for utilities in some developing countries to sustain DMA operations. In the case of Sierra Leone, with a relatively small, resourced challenged water system, the DMA works may have been overly complicated. The DMA demonstration activities under the Water Sector Project involved pipe rehabilitation, installing meters to measure water flowing into the two project areas, and installing kiosks to convert public standpipes under a public-private partnership model. Due to delays, the DMA works were completed at the end of the threshold program, which left little or no time for the utility to get support in addressing any of the technical issues that surfaced. There was also growing pressure to more equitably distribute the limited water supply. At the time of the endline evaluation, the DMAs were not monitoring non-revenue water due to lack of metering on DMA inlets and challenges with customer metering.
Lesson Learned