WASAC's Smart-Metering and Machine-Learning Pilot Cuts Non-Revenue Water by 23% in Kigali, Rwanda

Non-revenue water (NRW) — treated water that is lost to leaks, theft or billing errors before it reaches a paying customer — has historically run at 35–45% for WASAC Ltd, Rwanda's state-owned water and sanitation utility, well above the government's 25% target. A smart-metering pilot in Kigali City, described in the peer-reviewed study 'Cost-effective non-revenue water reduction: analysis through pilot activities in Kigali City, Rwanda' (Water Practice & Technology, IWA Publishing, 2024), trained over 60 WASAC technicians, billing agents and customer-support staff and reported NRW falling by 23% within six months of the pilot, alongside 38% of participating customers reducing their water use and a 41% drop in billing complaints.

In a companion study, 'Analyzing non-revenue water dynamics in Rwanda: leveraging machine learning predictive modeling for comprehensive insights and mitigation strategies' (Water Practice & Technology, IWA Publishing, June 2024), researchers including Charles Ruranga applied panel-data analysis and multiple machine-learning predictive models to WASAC's network data spanning July 2014 to June 2023, explicitly framed as supporting the utility's progress toward its 25% NRW ceiling. The pilot and the modelling work are complementary rather than a single integrated AI product: the smart-metering pilot generated the operational NRW reduction, while the ML study analysed WASAC's longer-run data to identify drivers of loss and mitigation priorities.

Independent trade coverage (ESI Africa) confirms WASAC's parallel infrastructure push, reporting that meter manufacturer Itron was selected to supply an additional 50,000 digital water meters for Kigali following an earlier rollout of 110,000 units. The reviewed sources describe the NRW and ML work as a pilot and an academic analysis rather than a nationally scaled, fully automated AI system, so the 23% result should be read as an early, localised outcome rather than a nationwide, sustained figure.

Read the full analysis: https://iwaponline.com/wpt/article/19/6/2376/102768/Analyzing-non-revenue-water-dynamics-in-Rwanda