By Matthias Hitzel
It was winter in the Caucasus region and an ice storm hit Batumi heavily. The year was 2018 and the overhead electricity lines collapsed, and the city of 250,000 inhabitants, located at the Black Sea coast in Western Georgia, was out of electricity for a full week. As the director of the local television was preparing the agenda for the next day TV news an old thought came up to her mind: For how long people will be out of water? She quickly checked her agenda and realized something strange: nobody mentioned problems with the water supply system – the opposite, people mentioned to be actually impressed that the water supply was continuing! How come? As faster as the thought came up in her mind it faded away. It was an old problem from the difficult not so long ago past when the deteriorated Soviet water supply and wastewater system in Batumi, being fully abandoned, did not function.
Since 2010, everybody in Batumi is supplied with uninterrupted, reliable and high-quality water. The non-functional wastewater treatment plant that released all wastewater untreated into the Black Sea was replaced by an award winning new and modern wastewater treatment plant that purifies the wastewater before it is released to the Black Sea, hence dramatically contributing to the Black Sea water quality and the revival of biodiversity.
The newly established municipal water utility is managing to control and reduce water losses. The MACS consultant statement “the construction of a new infrastructure is easy, compared to operate and maintain the new facilities,” was broadcasted and a new concept of sustainable managing was being introduced in the region. The qualified team of the water utility, Batumi Tskali – Batumi Water - applying modern technologies and following a very clear customer focus did a great job. More than 75% of the water that is produced reaches the citizens now and elevates Batumi on a level of France or the UK.
MACS is assisting the municipality of Batumi and the municipal utility Batumi Tskali since 2005 and alongside an over EUR 160 million investment program in the framework of the German-Georgian Financial Cooperation, through KfW Development Bank and co-financing of the European Union. Broadcast good news makes everybody proud and happy including us, at MACS.
The region on the pacific coast is suffering inceasingly from water scarcity and intense weather developments intensified by climate change while also illegal piping connections and overall ownership of the community and the utility for the water supply systems issufficient. Based on the lessons learned from the Water Loss Reduction Programme in Trujillo, a similar project is to be implemented in Huanuco, with institutional support to be provided to SEDA Huánuco.
The main goal of the project is the improvmeent of the efficiency of water use in order to contribute to the sustainable supply of drinking water to the population of the the Project area, taking into account the intensification of water scarcity due to climate change. This is to be achieved through the cohesion of institutional strengthening measures eith invesmtent measures.
Similar to the Trujillo Project, MACS implements the project together with GITEC-IGIP and WMI.
Ms. Lina Saenz completed her bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering in Colombia, her home country. Additionally, she holds a master's degree in Water Resources and Environmental Management from Leibniz University of Hannover. During her professional career, Ms. Saenz has worked on a wide range of projects in Colombia, Panamá, Ecuador and Germany. This makes her a highly adaptable professional with experience working in multicultural environments.
She has extensive experience conducting Environmental and Social Due Diligence (ESDD) and risk assessments at contaminated sites, following the required international and national environmental and health and safety standards in Colombia, Panamá and Ecuador. During her last professional experience, Ms. Saenz had the opportunity to increase and strengthen her knowledge in hazardous building materials and hazardous materials management, ESDD and further environmental training. Additionally, she had the opportunity to develop and improve her project management skills by providing client technical support to both local and international clients in Germany.
Currently, Ms. Saenz supports the MACS Team as an E&S Expert for the projects 'KfW Perdidas II' in Trujillo, Perú and 'Rural Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment Program' in Ajara, Georgia, as well as in the review of the PFI’s ESMS and preparation of the ESDD and ESAPs. Ms. Saenz is fluent in English and German, on top of Spanish as her mother tongue.