Batam Island Water Services

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In February of 1995, a Biwater (UK) lead joint venture was awarded a 25 year concession to manage the water supply and distribution network of the Indonesian island of Batam by The Batam Industrial Development Authority. The joint venture was to be responsible for all operational activities including raw water extraction, treatment, distribution, and customer services such as billing and collection during the concession period. The project was prompted because the island's population was expected to grow to over 800,000 during the term of the concession. The water supply on Batam Island comprised seven water treatment plants, two of which were to be constructed during the concession. Production capacity was to increase from 850 litres per second to 1,550 litres per second through both construction and refurbishment of existing water treatment plants. The project company was called Adhya Titra Batam (ATB) and was composed of Biwater subsidiary Cascal and the local private companies Bangun Cipta Kontractor and Syabata Cemerlang. Exact shares were unknown, but ATB was 100% privately owned. Biwater announced that it planned to invest US$200 million in the project. Operations were to begin in April 1995. By 2004, ATB served a population of over 600,000 people with 70,000 metered connections. Over the first two years of operation, ATB reduced leakage from 49% to 30% percent and over the first five years of the concession contract, 196 kilometers of new water mains had been installed.