NRWB revenue growth facing glitches
Northern Region Water Board (NRWB) says its revenue growth has slowed down due to intermittent power supply, forcing the board to pump low volumes of water.
Besides that, NRWB loses 33 percent of its revenue due to non-revenue water, which is lost due to pipe leakages and malfunctioning metres.
NRWB performance progress report for the year ending June 30 2018 shows that the board realised K1.9 billion in revenue, a 32 percent increase from the previous year.
The growth was attributed to increased customer base which translated into increased sales volumes.
In an interview on Tuesday, NRWB board chief executive officer Titus Mtegha said they will install generators in strategic water facilities to boost water supply.
“The financial performance of NRWB has been improving over the years amidst challenges. Growth in revenues slowed down in 2017/18 fiscal year due to low volumes of water because of power challenges.
“Despite registering considerable profit in 2018, NRWB is experiencing serious cashflow challenges due to excessive escalation of water debtors. As at June 2018, the total debt position was K3.7 billion, representing 55 percent of the total sales in the year,” he said.
On non-revenue water, he said they have put in place measures that include a demand management project underway in Mzuzu which has installed district metering areas to reduce the loss to 25 percent in the next five years.
