Water Sector Investment Project

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The development objective of the Water Sector Investment Project for Albania is to improve the quality of water and wastewater services in the Durres water utility service area; and improve the financial performance of Durres water utility. There are four components to the project. The first component of the project is priority water supply investments. This component will finance: 1) six water supply production wells and a bulk water supply transmission pipeline that will provide up to 630l/s additional supply capacity to address the acute water shortages in the Durres utility service area; 2) ancillary investments, including elevated reservoirs, linking municipalities/communes within the Durres area and along the transmission pipeline route to the water supply system in a sustainable manner; and 3) priority investments in the water distribution network in Durres, as well as provision of leak detection equipment and pressure reducing valves to reduce losses. The second component of the project is wastewater network investments. This component will finance priority wastewater investments aimed at enhancing the existing sewerage network's capacity to handle the increased water supply in an environmentally and socially sustainable manner. The third component of the project is institutional development program, utility strengthening and water demand management. This component will support the Government's broad-based policy and reform agenda at the national level with specific interventions at the local level, focused on the Durres region and its utility on a pilot basis. The fourth component of the project is project implementation support. This component will support implementation of the project including salaries for Project Implementation Unit (PIU) staff, the PIU operating costs, provision of needed equipment, consultant services supporting project investment technical reviews, as well as overall project supervision, monitoring, evaluation and reporting.