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Cooperation among waterworks
Summary
The objective of the project was to establish cooperation between
waterworks and a contact committee in a number of municipalities. This
included collecting experience regarding different types of cooperation
between waterworks for use by other waterworks, both now and in the future.
A contact committee is composed of representatives from all the
waterworks in a municipality, and the objective of this committee includes
establishing a common forum where a waterworks can exchange experience
with other waterworks and enter into cooperation on carrying out a number
of tasks with a common interest.
The project was completed in five municipalities, and 2-4 meetings were
held with all the waterworks. In addition it was intended that, as far as
possible, the project should:
- Take place in all the regions under the Joint Organisation of
Private Waterworks in Denmark
- Work further with experience from municipalities in which contact
committees had already been established
- Include small and large waterworks
- Include small and large municipalities
- Identify and describe different problems for waterworks.
In order to obtain an overview of the various opportunities for
cooperation, the waterworks had to complete a questionnaire and indicate
the tasks the waterworks was interested in carrying out in cooperation
with other waterworks. Furthermore, the questionnaire included a number of
general questions on the size of the waterworks, the treatment plant,
rules of procedure, rates, administration, etc.
The project has shown that all waterworks will achieve great advantages
through taking part in a contact committee. This is especially true for
waterworks with new board members and for smaller waterworks where a long
time can pass between various tasks and therefore it can be difficult to
build up the necessary experience and routines.
The project has also shown that there are many tasks where it is of
benefit to the waterworks to cooperate in a contact committee. This is
particularly relevant for tasks connected to counties and municipalities,
for example action plans from counties, and water-supply plans,
contingency plans, regulations, prices and rates, supervision and
inspection, etc. from municipalities.
On the basis of the project, it can clearly be recommended, therefore,
that waterworks should establish a contact committee, meeting once or
twice a year. Such a committee, in cooperation with the municipality, will
enable waterworks to inform each other about new legislation and work out
some common guidelines for inspection by the municipality, setting prices,
consumer information, registration of meter readings with the municipality,
etc.
Furthermore, the project has shown that waterworks can benefit from
establishing several experience groups where a smaller group of waterworks
can address issues of common interest. These may include water treatment,
accounting, bookkeeping, etc.
By establishing a contact committee, waterworks will also be better
equipped to carry out future tasks. For example, these will include
establishing cooperation on joint operation and administration of several
waterworks, and entering into cultivation agreements and agreements on
afforestation to secure the supply of drinking water in the future.
At first, contact committees should start with the tasks they can
already agree to work further with, and they should avoid discussions on
problems lying well in the future.
The questionnaire survey also showed that the majority of waterworks
believe that their own waterworks will continue to exist in ten years. It
is also normal that the chairman of the waterworks, the treasurer, and the
caretaker receive a fee, and that half of the waterworks do not believe
that their jobs are too onerous.
Several waterworks indicate that the waterworks is of great
significance for the local community, and many board members sit on the
board because they are interested, or in order to secure clean drinking
water and their own water supply.
In general, experience shows that contact committees work best where
there is:
- An external threat towards all waterworks. For example this may be a
large new consumer of water from the area, the county is preparing
action plans for the area, or general problems with groundwater
quality in the area, etc.
- An active chairman at one of the private waterworks who himself
believes in the idea of cooperation and is thus able to assemble and
lead the contact committee for a longer period.
- An active case officer at the municipality who understands how to
cooperate with waterworks in carrying out municipal authority tasks.
The full report, including appendices is available in Danish on the
Joint Organisation of Private Waterworks’ website and on the Danish
Environmental Authority’s website – www.fvd.dk - or - www.mst.dk.
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