A unified bill covering both water supply and sanitation services provides a practical approach to improving the revenue stream for wastewater management. Compared to water supply; it is often harder to collect tariffs for wastewater management services. The local water supply company in Medan; the capital city of the North Sumatra province; has provided a practical solution to this by installing a unified billing system for water supply and wastewater management services. By allowing water supply tariffs to cross-subsidize and meet the project revenue shortfall in wastewater management; the unified billing system improves operation and maintenance funding and therefore the sustainability prospects for the wastewater facilities put in place by the project.
Metropolitan Sanitation Management and Health Project