Nearly 50 percent of urban and rural households throughout Indonesia lack access to clean water and sanitation services. In urban environments, proper water and sanitation systems are particularly important as they generate economic benefits, protect the environment, and are vital for the population’s health. IRD has rehabilitated and constructed urban water supply systems in Aceh that have served up to 99 communities with 75,000recipients. The following outlines IRD’s approach to such projects.

Assessing Current Conditions and Needs

• Description of Study Area—geography, population, and supply of water and electricity
• Existing Water Supply System Facilities—water source and treatment facilities, transmission, distribution network, and service connections
• Population and Water Demand—analysis of prior population and future projection for service area
• Development Plan—technical evaluation and considerations, distribution system, system operations, cost considerations, and recommendations

Coordinating with Local Government and Water Authority
IRD coordinates closely with local government (Ministry of Public Works [PU], PDAM, and BAPEDA) programs with the aim of strengthening the effectiveness by establishing operational and sustainable mechanisms at the community level. The PU also plays a very important role in the program operations. As appropriate, IRD establishes a Memorandum of Understanding with these institutions so that each organization’s role and responsibilities are clearly laid out.

Technically Sound Solutions
IRD employs professional national and international engineers to design and oversee such projects to ensure that they meet standards. Based on their assessment, the IRD technical team will produce a technical design that ensures effective, sustainable facilities.

Conducting Transparent Competition to Engage Professional Local Partners
IRD is committed to ensuring a transparent, competitive tendering process. To this end, IRD publicly advertises its tenders, organizes pre-bidding meetings and site visits, and invites all stakeholders to participate in the process. IRD establishes a tender committee, made up of stakeholder representatives, to review bids and visit the top-ranked contractors to verify their capacity before a final selection is made.

Ensuring Quality and Sustainability
The IRD technical team closely monitors construction activities. Daily monitoring is conducted by a project officer and a project assistant who document their findings in regular reports. PDAM staff members are also involved in the regular monitoring and accompany IRD staff on their site visits. This helps to ensure that PDAM is intimately familiar with the system and can manage it once it is handed over. IRD also provides more formal technical and management training to PDAM staff in system maintenance and operations as well as written manuals.

Prior to handover, IRD performs a final technical inspection, as well as testing and commissioning. The purpose of the testing and commissioning is to ensure that the system can provide the required quantity and quality of water. As a part of this, IRD conducts water quality tests using PDAM’s laboratories and local standards. Representatives from IRD, PDAM, PU, the donor, and the contractor actively participate in the testing and commissioning process. Once this is complete, an official handover to the local government-PDAM and district authorities is made.

Evaluating Our Work
IRD believes it is important to make sure its projects continue to achieve their goals. After completion, IRD staff members return to evaluate project activities. Key issues that are evaluated are reliability of the supply, the production process, quality, and quantity of water output, customer satisfaction, improvements in the quality of services and system maintenance. Evaluation data is collected through interviews with system operators as well as recipients. Findings and recommendations are given to local government and the donor.