The National Water and Sewer Administration (ANDA) in El Salvador has introduced its first geospatial monitoring system, designed to streamline and track reports of water leaks across its distribution network. This new technology aims to enhance service for over 1.5 million residents while reducing water losses.
“The system allows us to make more informed decisions to improve the effectiveness of our operations, particularly in addressing physical losses in the water network, commonly known as leaks,” said Jorge Castaneda, President of ANDA.
This real-time tool provides data on ongoing repairs, pinpointing locations and tracking the status of work. Just this month, ANDA has addressed more than 8,300 reports. The system logs essential information such as report numbers, the location of pipe damage, repair status, and photographs of the process. It also features a detailed graph showing daily activity and a map that highlights areas with the highest number of requests.
Repair stages are color-coded: orange indicates the start of a repair, yellow marks ongoing work, and green signifies the completion of repairs. This allows for better traceability of the crews’ activities in the field.
“The high number of leaks is due to El Salvador’s aging water infrastructure, which has reached the end of its lifespan. As a result, the government is working on operations to repair and replace large sections of the water pipeline,” Castaneda explained. ANDA has also established a digital transformation office, a geographic information systems (GIS) department, a water observatory, and a project management office to support this effort.
“We are equipping our team with the necessary tools, focusing on digital transformation and improved geospatial systems to become more efficient in responding to citizen reports,” emphasized Castaneda.